Speaking to investors during a Q2 earnings call on Thursday, Apple CEO Tim Cook offered yet another hint about the company’s ongoing work in the field of generative AI. We have still yet to see any glimpses of Apple’s rumored rival to OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini, but that is not stopping Cook from hyping up the inevitable announcement.
“We continue to feel very bullish about our opportunity in generative AI,” Cook told investors (via MacRumors). “We are making significant investments and we’re looking forward to sharing some very exciting things with our customers soon.”
“We believe in the transformative power and promise of AI and we believe we have advantages that will differentiate us in this new era,” Cook added, “including Apple’s unique combination of seamless hardware, software and services integration, groundbreaking Apple silicon with our industry leading neural engines, and our unwavering focus on privacy, which underpins everything we create.”
This isn’t the first time that Cook has alluded to Apple’s upcoming AI reveals, but it’s notable that he’s now posturing about how capable Apple’s AI will be. We don’t know the “advantages” Cook believes will help “differentiate” Apple in this era, but it’s clear that generative AI is more than a passing fad. Apple needs to catch up, and fast.
While the CEO didn’t share any specific dates, we’ll be hearing from Apple next week during its “Let Loose” event on May 7. We expect that event to focus on new iPads — including the long-awaited OLED iPad Pro — but there’s always a chance that Apple could have a big surprise in store. Apple has increasingly offloaded its product announcements to press releases, so if the company took the time to record an event, it’s probably for something notable.