Can Apple Think Different on A.I.?

Wall Street will be closely watching what Apple’s Tim Cook has to say today about artificial intelligence.Credit…Jim Wilson/The New York Times

Apple tries to close the A.I. gap

Heading into Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday, big questions are hanging over the tech giant, from muted sales for its Vision Pro headset to growing competition in China and regulatory scrutiny on both sides of the Atlantic.

Those aren’t going away, but the focus at the event will be on what Tim Cook, Apple’s C.E.O., reveals about artificial intelligence — and whether the company can catch up to competitors.

Apple has lagged behind its rivals. The share prices of companies that are seen as A.I. leaders, like Nvidia and Microsoft, have soared since OpenAI introduced ChatGPT in November 2022. Big Tech C.E.O.s have fallen over themselves to show they are in the race. But Apple hasn’t yet introduced a new A.I. offering, held back by its typical caution, according to The Wall Street Journal.

(The New York Times has sued OpenAI and Microsoft over use of copyrighted articles related to A.I. systems.)

Apple tends to keep future product plans a closely held secret. The A.I. boom has put that tactic under pressure; Cook unexpectedly told analysts last month that generative A.I. offerings were in the cards.

“It was quite fascinating to see Apple, for once, dragged into a conversation that was not on its own terms,” Leo Gebbie, a tech analyst, told The Financial Times.