Apple CEO Tim Cook hints at “some very exciting” generative AI announcements coming soon

Apple may reveal its artificial intelligence (AI) plans earlier than expected. The Cupertino-based tech giant was thought to unveil the AI ​​features it’s building during its global developer conference scheduled for June 10. However, CEO Tim Cook said that information about generative AI could soon be shared with users, according to a report. With Apple’s Let Loose event coming up on May 7, there’s little chance the company will hint at the features it will introduce later this year.

According to a report of CRN, Cook made the remarks during the company’s quarterly earnings call. Apple reportedly experienced a 4 percent year-on-year decline in revenue to reach $90.8 billion (roughly Rs. 7.5 lakh crore). Addressing stakeholders at the start of the call, Cook said, “We continue to feel very optimistic about our opportunity in generative AI, we’re making significant investments, and we look forward to sharing some very exciting things with our customers soon.”

The announcement highlights the iPhone maker’s intentions to boost the AI ​​trend. Apple’s CEO also emphasized that the company’s innovations with its processors and neural engines give it a strategic advantage over its competitors in integrating the technology into devices. He is also reported to have spoken of an “unwavering focus on privacy”, hinting that AI features will likely be powered by the device.

Over the past few months, Apple’s AI ambitions have made headlines multiple times. The company has acquired at least two different companies, Darwin AI and Datakalab, working in the AI ​​space. Additionally, researchers employed by the tech giant have also published several papers on AI models with computer vision, device operations, and multimodal capabilities.

Earlier reports also suggested that some of the AI-powered features users might see later this year. The Safari browser is expected to play a key role as it is rumored to get a ‘Smart Search’ feature that will summarize open articles and web pages. Another AI-based web scraping feature has emerged that can delete banner ads and other elements on a web page based on user preferences. These features are expected to be unveiled at WWDC 24 when Apple unveils iOS 18 and macOS 15.