Apple is quietly working on artificial intelligence tools that could challenge those of OpenAI, Alphabet's Google and others. Mark Gurman reports on "Bloomberg Markets."

Cupertino

The release of Open AI's ChatGPT has accelerated the development of artificial intelligence and warnings about its impact on society.

Rise of AI

Apple races to build generative AI 

Mark, tell us first what Apple is doing. I think it's called AJAX or even just Apple GPT. Yeah, Matt, thank you so much for having me. So today we've learned that Apple is going all in on LLMs, or large language models. That's the heart of the AI technology that powers ChatGPT, Microsoft being AI, Google Bard, and all of these fancy new AI tools we've been hearing about. So they've developed their own underlying framework at Apple called AJAX to power its own next generation LLMs, and it's also built an internal ChatGPT-like tool for use among its employees that operates very similar to the tools we're seeing from others today. Why have they seemingly given up on Siri? I mean, Google and Alexa seem smarter than Siri, let alone ChatGPT and Bing with AI. How come they haven't worked harder on it? Yeah, I don't necessarily think they've given up on Siri. I think that Apple is stretched fairly thin for resources. That's one problem, right? A lot of their AI effort is actually going towards their autonomous car work, right? They're working on this self-driving car. The autonomous capabilities are going to be powered by machine learning and artificial intelligence, so there's a lot of work going there. They're applying artificial intelligence to many parts of the system on the iPhone, the iPad, Mac, et cetera. The Vision Pro headset, there's a lot of AI that goes into that. But in terms of what we think of as AI today, because of what open AI is doing, in terms of Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, certainly Apple is lagging behind, and there's really a needle that needs to be threaded there between privacy and functionality, and that's something that Apple has had a difficult time doing over the past several years, but they're starting to be able to thread that needle correctly by wanting to offer more functionality while still trying to preserve that privacy marketing stance, that privacy stance on the engineering level. And I think these LLMs will show those capabilities. I imagine these will be added to their productivity apps. It will be added to their own corporate infrastructure, things like AppleCare, for helping people in customer service needs. And more importantly, it'll be added to the iPhone through Siri at some point. I'm told that while there's no definitive plan of record yet for what this consumer product will be, building this underlying foundation at the speed and pace they're doing so, people involved expect some sort of major Apple AI announcement sometime in 2024. When you say that they're stretched for resources, I look at the financial analytics on the Bloomberg Terminal and see that they had $169 billion of cash and equivalents last year. Is there any chance they're going to start pouring some of that money into this, Mark? I think there's a possibility. One thing about Apple that people, I think, miss is their acquisition strategy. Everyone knows that Apple doesn't make blockbuster acquisitions, right? They're not buying Disney. They're not buying open AI or any of these gigantic companies. And we know that. A lot of people think they just don't want to spend the money. The truth is that Apple has a terrible history of technology transfers and technology integration and bringing people from outside cultures and outside companies, certainly lots of people, and folding them into the company. The Beats transition almost a decade ago, they spent $3 billion on that. That remains their biggest acquisition to date. Very challenging, bringing those people into Beats and integrating them into Apple. They bought Intel's modem team, several hundred people, if not a few thousand people. They bought them three or four years ago for about $1 billion. That was a challenge. So I think upping their AI is going to have to come from internal work, hires, but also smaller acquisitions than anything on the blockbuster side.

Australian and Chinese relations are strained following an incident involving military forces from both countries. During a routine operation in the Yellow Sea, within international waters, an Australian helicopter faced an aggressive manoeuver by a Chinese military jet.

Council of the City of Sydney

Australia hits out at China over helicopter incident

Interest rates will remain unchanged after the Reserve Bank of Australia decided to keep the cash rate at 4.35%, a figure that has held steady since November. It comes amidst the ongoing struggle with rising costs of living pressures.

RBA keeps interest rates on hold

Israel has launched new airstrikes in Rafah, warning 100,000 people there to flee to a designated safe area ahead of an expected ground operation. The strikes came after Hamas agreed to a mediated ceasefire proposal but Israel did not.

Rafah

Israel-Gaza War

Hamas accepts mediated ceasefire deal; Israel doesn't

The bodies of Perth brothers Callum and Jake Robinson have been formally identified after their grieving family arrived in Mexico. Authorities have arrested four people in connection with the alleged murders.

Baja California

Grieving family arrives in Mexico to identify brothers' remains

The Defence Minister has condemned the conduct of a Chinese fighter jet, which launched flares near an Australian Seahawk helicopter. The incident occurred over international waters in the Yellow Sea off the coast of South Korea.

Seoul

Chinese fighter jet detonates flares near Australian helicopter

Israel's military has carried out airstrikes in Rafah, residents said, hours after Israel told Palestinians to evacuate parts of the southern Gaza city where more than a million people uprooted by the war have been sheltering.

Jerusalem

Israel strikes Rafah after evacuation order, residents say

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered tactical nuclear weapon drills as part of a military exercise to "deter" the West. It comes as Russian forces continue to make incremental gains on the ground, capturing two villages in Kharkiv and the Donetsk region, as well as the village of Soloviove in eastern Ukraine.

Soloviove

Ukraine Invasion

Russia advances in Ukraine's east, announces nuclear drills

Chinese President Xi Jinping awoke in Paris on Monday on his first visit to the region in five years, with trade and Russia's war with Ukraine on the agenda in talks with France's Emmanuel Macron and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.

Paris

China's Xi Jinping pays state visit to France

Israel has ordered civilians in Rafah to move towards Khan Younis, in the clearest sign yet that a military operation is imminent. A ceasefire in Gaza looks as distant as ever with Hamas refusing to lay down arms unless there is a complete cessation of the war. Meanwhile, Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would go it alone if necessary, even in the face of criticism from its Western allies.

Israeli army orders Palestinians to evacuate parts of Rafah

The bodies Australian brothers, Jake and Callum Robinson have been identified by authorities in Baja California, Mexico. It comes as their grieving parents arrive in the country.

Brothers identified as victims of Mexico robbery

Qantas has been ordered to compensate passengers following revelations that it sold tickets on thousands of flights that had already been cancelled. The airline has agreed to pay a $100 million fine and $20 million in compensation to affected passengers.

Mascot

Qantas ordered to pay compensation over 'ghost flight' scandal

A former detective is facing allegations of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman whose case he was initially assigned to investigate. Accused of exploiting his authority, Glenn Coleman, 55, has been charged with 10 offences,

Penrith

Police officer accused of assaulting rape victim

The death toll from heavy rains that have caused flooding in Brazil's southern state of Rio Grande do Sul has risen to at least 78, local authorities said, with more than 115,000 people displaced.

State of Rio Grande do Sul

Climate Crisis

Death toll rises in record-breaking Brazil floods

China's President Xi Jinping has arrived in France for a rare visit with President Emmanuel Macron. They are set to discuss trade, amid growing tension between Europe and China over an imbalance between China's exports and European imports.

China's Xi Jinping visits Europe amid global tensions

While several pro-Palestinian campus protests in the U.S. were dismantled over the weekend, others became more disruptive and interrupted at least one graduation ceremony.

Chicago

Protests disrupt graduation ceremonies at U.S. universities

Prospects for a Gaza ceasefire appeared slim as Hamas reiterated its demand for an end to the war in exchange for the freeing of hostages, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flatly ruled that out.

Tel Aviv-Yafo

Gaza truce hopes fade as Israel, Hamas trade blame

The Israeli cabinet has voted to unanimously shut down Al Jazeera's operations in the country. That's according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a statement on X. 
It is not clear when this decision will take effect.

Israel announces ban of Al Jazeera channel, website

Australian police said they have shot dead a boy after he stabbed a man in Western Australia's capital Perth, in an attack authorities said indicated terrorism.

Perth

Australian police shoot boy dead after stabbing

Sadiq Khan has been elected mayor of London, winning a historic third term after a dramatic contest. Khan was declared the winner over the Conservative candidate, Susan Hall with 43.8% of the vote.

London

Sadiq Khan elected London mayor for third term

Floods have killed at least 58 people in southern Brazil. Nearly 70,000 have been forced from their homes. Tens of thousands of people have been left without drinking water or electricity. It's the worst flooding the region has seen in more than 80 years.

'It's going to get worse': Brazil braces for flood peaks

Students at the University of California in Irvine say they will remain on campus until all their demands are met. School officials say they'll continue to negotiate with the protesters -- and are hoping to reach a deal soon.

Irvine

Police, protesters in stand-off at California university

The Federal Government will cut $3 billion in student debts, in measures to be announced in next week's budget. The reforms will see the student loans of three million graduates by an average of $1200 and changes to loan indexation.

Camperdown

Labor to wipe $3 billion of student debts

Mexican authorities have charged three suspects over the disappearance of Australian brothers Callum and Jake Robinson and their American friend Jack Carter Rhoad. It's believed the tourists became embroiled in a bungled robbery. Four bodies were found near the trio's abandoned campsite, but are yet to be formally identified.

Mexican authorities lay charges over Australian brothers' disappearance

A knife-wielding teenage boy has been shot dead by police in Bunnings carpark in Willetton, Perth. The 16-year-old boy had phoned Triple Zero saying he planned ‘acts of violence’ and stabbed a male member of the public. The WA Police Commissioner says the teenager had ‘mental health and radicalisation issues’.

Willetton

Police shoot dead ‘radicalised’ teenage boy in Perth

The death toll from rains in Brazil's southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul rose to 57, local authorities said on Saturday (May 4) afternoon, while dozens still have not been accounted for.

Dozens missing amid record-breaking Brazil flooding

There are renewed hopes for a ceasefire in Gaza after a Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo to continue talks amid reports of a proposal agreed to by Israel to halt fighting for an initial 40 days in exchange for the release of hostages.

Hopes rise for Gaza ceasefire amid Hamas talks

Students showing support for Palestinians have set up camp outside the University College London. They say they'll continue their protest until the university divests from Israeli institutions that 'profit from the war in Gaza'.

Pro-Palestine university protests spread to London

Dozens of Palestinians have held a demonstration in the West Bank, to condemn the killing of five Palestinian fighters. Crowds rallied hours after Israeli troops attacked the fighters in the village of Deir al Ghoson.

Five Palestinian fighters killed during West Bank raid

Dozens of people in two rubber dinghies have reached the southern coast of England, the latest among thousands of asylum-seeking migrants to make the risky sea crossing from France this year.

Dover

Asylum seekers arrive in England despite Rwanda threat

A former immigration detainee has been bailed after allegedly threatening police with a knife in Melbourne. It follows the recent violent home invasion allegedly committed by another released detainee in Western Australia Pressure is mounting on Federal Immigration Minister Andrew Giles to be held to account.

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Rise of AI