Apple to Renew Push for AI That Runs on Devices, Instead of the Cloud
As the tech industry pours fortunes into data centers for AI, Apple is expected to increasingly showcase the benefits of running models locally on iPhones and other devices.
At Apple’s annual developer conference next month, the star of the show will be a series of long-delayed artificial intelligence upgrades to the iPhone. But the company is also expected to emphasize what could be an underrated asset in its efforts to catch up in AI: Its ability to run AI models on the billions of Apple devices in circulation.
People familiar with the company’s plans for its Worldwide Developers Conference say that Apple is likely to showcase how the company’s 15 years of experience of designing custom silicon chips for iPhones, Watches and Macs will give it an advantage when running AI models locally on those devices. Typically, AI models are run in expensive data centers filled with powerful AI chips.
Many AI queries from Apple’s devices will still have to be processed in the cloud because of their complexity and need for access to troves of online information. For example, as part of an Apple agreement with Google, some user queries to a new version of Siri will run in Google Cloud on a licensed version of the search giant’s Gemini model. Apple recently approved the use of a privacy technology from Nvidia in that setting, suggesting it will use Nvidia AI chips for at least some of its computing needs in Google Cloud, according to people familiar with the matter.