Apple Employees Believe They’re At Least Two Years Behind In AI Development

Apple introduced its ‘Apple Intelligence’ feature at WWDC 2024 in June, marking the company’s first step into the AI league. Since the announcement, the Apple Intelligence features have been in beta development. The Cupertino tech giant will roll out its first set of AI features on October 28 in the U.S. While the Apple Intelligence release date is just around the corner, it might not be as majestic as expected. According to Mark Gurman’s latest newsletter, some employees at Apple believe that the company is at least two years behind in Artificial Intelligence development.

Apple Intelligence system includes an array of useful and neat features, including Writing Tools, AI notification summaries, Image Playground, Genmoji, an all-new Siri with personal context, and more. Apple’s AI features mostly rely on models that can run on-device. That’s why there are certain requirements to run Apple Intelligence features. Only devices with at least an A17 Pro or M-series chipset, and at least 8GB of memory are compatible with Apple Intelligence. As a part of Apple’s AI strategy, the giant teamed up with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT across the system. This will ensure that Apple’s AI system isn’t limited to on-device intelligence, but can even handle complex queries as well.

OpenAI’s ChatGPT vs Apple’s Siri

OpenAI is one of the top names in the AI space and they develop some of the greatest AI models. Apple mentioned it will integrate GPT-4o across iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. Users can access ChatGPT via Siri, Writing Tools, and other first-party apps and features. ChatGPT integration will help Apple close the large AI gap and compete neck-to-neck with its direct rivals.

According to Gurman, ChatGPT can outperform Siri. Internal studies at Apple showed that ChatGPT is around 25% more accurate than Siri. In addition, ChatGPT could answer 30% more questions compared to Siri. Well, these assessments have raised questions and internal concerns about Apple’s generative AI technology, with some employees believing that Apple is two years behind the leaders in AI.

”Some at Apple believe that its generative AI technology – at least, so far – is more than two years behind the industry leaders.”

Even if Apple has embarked on its AI journey, it doesn’t seem to go in the right direction. The staggered roll-out is confusing and seems to have crushed the Apple Intelligence hype. On top of that, the first serving of Apple’s AI features seems to be underwhelming. Apple might release its AI system this month, but its most impressive features like Image Playground, Genmoji, and all-new powerful Siri are slated to arrive later this year.

Apple’s Catch Up Strategy

Even if Apple is falling two years behind in the AI race, it’s hard to count it out. Apple has a history of successfully catching up in fields they seemingly lag. One of the biggest examples is Apple Maps. Gurman believes Apple will catch up to its competitors in the AI space, whether they have to hire more experts or acquire the top AI companies. After all, Apple is a cherished brand with absolutely unlimited resources.

Additionally, Gurman believes that Apple has an impeccable ability to roll out its features to a massive base of devices. When Apple announced AI in June, it was only compatible with two iPhones, a few iPads, and M-series Macs. Four months down, we have four new iPhones and almost every iPad with AI support. Since Apple is expected to launch its M4 Macs soon, this will only help the company speed up its AI tasks.

Gurman says that by 2026, we might see Apple Intelligence running on every device with a screen. Apple is gearing up to launch its next-generation affordable iPhone lineup, the iPhone SE 4 with an A18 chip and Apple intelligence support in early 2025. Also, the entry-level iPad might receive an update later in 2025.

Not to forget, OpenAI is one of the models that Apple has integrated. The giant plans to integrate more models in the future. With this ability to multiple AI models on tons of devices, Apple is bound to get an edge as these models iterate. It will be interesting to see how Apple uses this advantage to impress its wide fan base.

Do you think Apple is going in the right direction with its AI strategy? Don’t forget to share your views in the comments below.