every time i A visit to the Apple Park campus reminds me of a tour I took several months before construction was completed. Back then, the terrazzo floor was covered in dust, and now it’s a muddy mess filled with lush plants. My guide was Apple CEO Tim Cook. With executive pride, he ushered me inside the $5 billion circular colossus and explained that committing to a new campus was a “once-in-a-century decision.”
Today, I return to the ring full of energy to reunite with Cook, seven years after it opened. The world of technology is at a tipping point. The most powerful companies either stumble or gain decades of dominance. We’re here to discuss Cook’s big move in this high-stakes environment: the impending release of Apple Intelligence, the company’s first major product in the hot field of generative AI. This is to do. Some people think it’s too late. Throughout the year, Apple’s competitors have been making headlines, luring investors, and dominating the news cycle with their chatbots, while the world’s most valuable company (as I write) is expensive and He was showing off a bulky augmented reality headset. Apple needs to get AI right. After all, businesses are less likely to survive a century of pride than buildings.
Mr. Cook did not panic. Like his predecessor Steve Jobs, he doesn’t believe that first is best. In his words, “Classic Apple” enters a cacophony of forerunners, releasing products with a firm grasp of novelty and practicality that make the latest technology approachable, even sexy. Masu. Remember how the iPod reimagined digital music? It wasn’t the first MP3 player, but its compactness, ease of use, and integration with online stores got people excited about new ways to listen to songs.
Photo: Joe Pugliese
Cook also claimed that Apple has been preparing for an AI revolution all along. Back in 2018, he poached Google’s top AI manager, John Gianandrea, to the company’s unusually expanded executive vice president position. He then pulled the plug on its long-running smart car program (which Apple has never publicly acknowledged) and combined the company’s machine learning talent to incorporate AI into its software products.
In June, Apple announced the results of implementing AI across its product line. Cook also brokered a deal with OpenAI, the gold standard for chatbots, to give users access to ChatGPT. I had gotten some demos of what they were planning to release, including a tool to create custom emojis with verbal instructions, and an easy-to-use AI image generator called Image Playground. (I had not yet tested the return of Siri, Apple’s lackluster AI agent.)
Perhaps the most distinctive feature of Apple’s AI, at least according to Apple, is the Cook administration’s hallmark focus on privacy. The AI tools deployed through software updates on the latest iPhones and more recent Macs primarily run on the device itself and do not send data to the cloud. Cook asserts that computations for more complex AI tasks will take place in the secure confines of Apple’s data centers.
Another thing I was reminded of when I returned to the ring was how Cook laid out the results of the big decisions that unleashed the innovations that power Apple’s phones and laptops, from the Apple Watch to its bet on custom silicon chips. It’s about how cleverly they advertise. (And I’m not even mentioning the decisions that didn’t work out, like that multibillion-dollar smart car project.) When he wanders into the conference room where we’re meeting, I crack up. I know he will respond with great care and cordiality, displaying the manners honed during his time at Alabama. As a boy, he calmly exaggerated the virtues of Apple products and deflected criticism of his very powerful company. (And when asked to comment on the election results that came in after our meeting, he chose to keep his opinion to himself.) Steve Jobs is a journalist like the rain in Buenaventura and aggressively promoted his message. Mr. Cook enveloped his interlocutors in a gentle mist, confiding in him an awe-inspiring assessment of his company’s efforts.
Of course, the final rating is determined by the user. But if 40 years of covering Apple have taught me anything, it’s this: If the first iteration of the AI fails, an unrepentant Cook will appear in an upcoming pre-recorded keynote to create a new version. It was built that would be hailed as “the best Apple Intelligence ever”. ” Despite all the pressure, Tim Cook never breaks a sweat.
