Bbabo NET

Science & Technology News

Since the beginning of 2017, Apple has bought 21 artificial intelligence startups.

Since the beginning of 2017, Apple has acquired 21 startups in the field of artificial intelligence, writes the Financial Times, citing a PitchBook study. Early last year, the corporation bought the Californian startup WaveOne, which offers an AI algorithm for video compression.

Apple has been gradually building up its AI capabilities by acquiring companies, hiring employees and upgrading hardware to deploy AI features in the next generation of iPhones.

A Morgan Stanley study found that half of Apple's AI job openings include the term "deep learning," which refers to the algorithms behind generative AI. In 2018, the company hired Google's top AI executive, John Giannandrea.

Apple has typically remained silent on its AI plans as rivals Microsoft, Google and Amazon tout multibillion-dollar investments in cutting-edge technology. Industry insiders note that the Cupertino company is working on its own large language models.

Last summer, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company was "conducting research on a broad range of AI technologies" and was also investing and innovating when it came to new technologies.

Apple is likely planning to use generative AI on mobile devices. This will allow chatbots and other AI applications to run on gadget hardware and software, rather than using cloud services in data centers. The implementation of such a task requires reducing the size of language models and introducing more efficient processors.

Samsung and Google say their smartphones support generative AI features offline on the device.

At WWDC 2024, Apple will present a new version of its mobile operating system, iOS 18. Morgan Stanley analysts believe that the OS will be focused on supporting generative AI and include the Siri voice assistant based on a large language model.

Last October, Apple introduced the M3 Max processor for the MacBook. The manufacturer said the solution opens up new opportunities for AI developers working with billions of data parameters.

The S9 chip for new versions of the Apple Watch allows Siri to access and log data without an internet connection. The A17 Pro processor in the iPhone 15 has a neural engine, the performance of which has doubled compared to the previous generation of chips.

Last year, Apple, in collaboration with Columbia University, released the large open-source multimodal language model Ferret.

Since the beginning of 2017, Apple has bought 21 artificial intelligence startups.