Apple Inc. has announced plans to invest approximately $5 billion to develop a rival to ChatGPT. This decision comes as part of the tech giant’s strategy to catch up with competitors like Google and Microsoft, who have already made strides in integrating generative AI features into their products.
Google currently leads the pack in incorporating generative AI capabilities into smartphones, with Samsung expected to follow suit in its upcoming Galaxy S24. Apple is also preparing to integrate generative AI into its next major operating system update, iOS 18.
According to Mark Gurman from Bloomberg, Apple was taken by surprise when competitors began introducing AI features in response to the ChatGPT trend.
Despite having been working on similar capabilities for years, Apple has yet to launch them publicly. However, the company is now gearing up to make substantial investments in AI servers powered by Nvidia HGX H100 GPUs.
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reports that Apple has already spent over $620 million on AI servers, with plans for more significant investments in the pipeline. The company is reportedly preparing to commit up to $4.75 billion towards AI servers in the coming year to gain a competitive edge over rivals Microsoft and Google.
Microsoft has already made a hefty $10 billion investment in ChatGPT, integrating its capabilities into its search engine to create Bing Chat.
They also launched an iOS and Android app for Bing Chat earlier this year, which quickly gained popularity. Meanwhile, Google introduced Bard and various creative AI features with Android 14 and the Pixel 8 phones.
Kuo predicts that Apple will acquire between 2,000 and 3,000 AI servers this year, a figure that could surge to as many as 20,000 next year.
Furthermore, Apple might consider transitioning from Nvidia’s H100 to B100 GPUs and work on designing its own server chips to cut costs.
While the practical outcome of Apple’s AI efforts remains uncertain, it is likely that we will see the introduction of a new chatbot and possibly an image generator similar to DALL-E. This move marks a significant step in Apple’s commitment to advancing its AI capabilities and maintaining its competitive edge in the tech industry.
