Apple WWDC 2024: Company Unveils Artifical Intelligence Plans ...

During the virtual keynote, CEO Tim Cook and his colleagues unveiled Apple Intelligence, the company's long-awaited approach to generative artificial intelligence. A new AI-powered Siri will bring enhanced voice capabilities to Apple's devices.

The company also said that ChatGPT would be embedded into the next version of Apple's operating systems.

Opportunities in artificial intelligence have been a singular focus of investors this year. Nvidia’s revenue was up 262% in the latest quarter, while Apple’s was down 4%.

Apple shares are trading 1.7% lower after the conclusion of the company's keynote for the 2024 Worldwide Developers Conference, at about $194.13.

The stock is now roughly flat so far this year.

The event, which ran for about an hour and 40 minutes, jammed all of the newsiest bits into the last 30 minutes or so, after an hour of operating system upgrade announcements.

The last section included the debut of the company's new "Apple Intelligence" AI platform, a reworked version of the Siri voice interface, a new privacy focused cloud-based AI service powered by Apple silicon, and a partnership with OpenAI that provides free ChatGPT access to iPhone, iPad, and Mac users.

News that Apple Intelligence will only work with iPhone 15 Pro models, which account for about 5% of the company's iPhone installed base, would suggest the company sees an opportunity here to drive a new iPhone upgrade cycle. That element of the story was widely anticipated, however, and investors appear to be selling on the news.

Apple Intelligence will also work with iPads and Macs based on the Apple's own chips. That includes MacBooks going back to 2020 and iPads going back to 2021.

The new Apple Intelligence on device AI platform will run on iPhone 15 Pro - the current highest end version of the smartphones. Mac and iPad support will go back a few more years, with all devices sporting M1 processors or later getting AI support. Apple launched its first M1 Macs back in 2020.

The device support, slipped into the wrap-up of the company's lengthy WWDC keynote, is consistent with analysts' expectations that Apple will try to leverage its new AI strategy to spur iPhone sales.

The new experience will be included in iOS 18, iPad OS 18, and MacOS Sequoia starting this fall, with some new features and additional language to be added over the next year.

Overall, Apple's event seemed about in line with Wall Street expectations-a new version of Siri, AI-enhanced features across all of the company's devices, a partnership with OpenAI and a strategy that seems intended to drive up phone sales with the iPhone 16 launch coming later this year.

But investors are selling on the news. With the event now completed, Apple shares are 1.9% lower, at $193.26.

The stock has again fallen below Nvidia in market capitalization, at $2.96 trillion, trailing the AI chip giant's $2.99 trillion.

Apple said it's partnering with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT-4o into Siri and other applications, blending on-device AI features with a more powerful cloud-based AI application.

The integration will be available for free, but ChatGPT subscribers will be able to bring additional features into the experience.

The service will be added to the Mac, iPhone, and iPad operating system software later this year. The company said it would also partner in the future with other large-language model providers.

The company didn't immediately disclose financial details on the relationship with OpenAI.