Apple ‘investing quite a bit’ in generative AI, but its CEO is being tight-lipped

Cook’s comments came in response to a question from an analyst, who wondered if the company would look to monetize its coming Vision Pro headset or other initiatives using generative AI, as other companies step up their own experimentations.

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Apple plans to approach generative AI “responsibly,” according to Cook, and fans of the company’s devices “will see product advancements over time where those technologies are at the heart of them.”

AI chatter has cooled a little on Big Tech earnings calls, though executives of other tech powerhouses are still talking about the technology far more than Apple’s management is. AI came up 57 times on Microsoft Corp.’s
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earnings call last week, down from 73 times on the prior call, while the count on Alphabet Inc.’s
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call fell to 75 from 90.

AI mentions actually rose to nine from five in Apple’s case, but all of those references occurred during the question-and-answer portion, whereas the Alphabet and Microsoft management teams didn’t need any prompting to discuss AI, and essentially led their prepared remarks with talk of the technology.

Cook’s responses Thursday echoed commentary from Apple’s prior earnings call, during which he told an analyst curious about the company’s AI efforts that Apple tends “to announce things as they come to market.”

See more: Apple’s Tim Cook explains why he won’t showboat around AI

He noted Thursday that plenty of Apple features already make use of AI, though the company doesn’t necessarily frame them that way publicly.

“We view AI and machine learning as fundamental technologies, and they’re integral to virtually every product that we ship,” he said. New iOS features like Personal Voice and Live Voicemail “would not be possible without AI,” but Apple “labeled them as what their consumer benefit is.”