There is no denying the fact that in a bid to keep its cards close to its chest, Apple has been behind the 8-ball when it comes to AI for quite some time. However, now the company is going all out in developing their AI models, as it prepares for WWDC and the imminent launch of a new series of iPads and iPhones, that will come loaded with AI features.
In order to make sure that they hit the right spot with their AI models right at the first go, Apple has reportedly hired several AI specialists from Google and have set them up at a rather clandestine research lab in Zurich, Switzerland, according to a report by the Financial Times.
The initiative, dubbed the “Vision Lab,” has just one objective — to develop advanced AI models and products.
Since 2018, Apple has poached a total of 36 experts from Google, with the recruitment drive intensifying following the appointment of John Giannandrea as Apple’s top AI executive. Giannandrea’s expertise has been instrumental in shaping Apple’s AI endeavours so far.
While Apple’s primary AI operations are based in California and Seattle, the decision to open new offices in Zurich indicates that there is a strategic shift in the way Apple is going about the expansion of its AI footprint. Recent acquisitions of AI startups like FaceShift and Fashwall are also believed to influence the creation of Vision Lab.
If one were to look at the LinkedIn profiles of the employees and see what the employees of Apple’s new secretive lab are engaged in, they will find that the projects Vision Labs is working on are very similar to those powering OpenAI’s ChatGPT and similar projects.
Apple’s goal, it seems, is to develop advanced AI models capable of processing both text and visual inputs to deliver enhanced outcomes.
Apple’s AI team has some notable figures when it comes to AI. The team includes stalwarts like former Google luminaries Giannandrea, now associated with DeepMind, and Bengio, who holds a senior role in AI and machine learning research at Apple. Ruoming Pang, who was formerly leading AI speech recognition research at Google, now heads Apple’s “Foundation Models” team, focusing on large language models.
Apple’s foray into AI comes later than its competitors, including Google, Samsung, and Microsoft. According to Ruslan Salakhutdinov of Carnegie Mellon University, Apple’s cautious approach stems from a commitment to ensuring full control over its AI initiatives. Salakhutdinov, whose company Perpetual Machines was acquired by Apple in 2016, underscores Apple’s adherence to stringent quality standards.
Apple will be rolling out a number of AI-powered features in the upcoming iOS 18 update. With it, Apple will take its first steps into integrating AI across its ecosystem.
Reports have suggested that Siri, Spotlight, Shortcuts, Apple Music, Messages, Health, Keynote, Numbers, Pages, and other applications will be completely revamped thanks to generative AI capabilities that they will be given, which will in all likelihood be based on on-device large language models.
