Apple AI Chatbot: Apple may be working on its answer to ChatGPT, Google Bard – Times of India

OpenAI’s ChatGPT has caused a stir in the world of artificial intelligence, prompting several new AI chatbots to pop up in mere few months, and has even caught the attention of Apple. The iPhone maker has been quietly developing its own generative AI chatbot, and those working on it are calling it “AppleGPT.”
According to Bloomberg, the chatbot, referred to as “AppleGPT,” is built on Apple’s own large language model “Ajax,” which is based on Google JAX framework, thus the name. This framework is designed to speed up research in machine learning and is run on Google Cloud.
Apple’s chatbot is like those of Bard, ChatGPT, and Bing AI, capable of summarising text and providing answers to questions based on data it has been fed.
The company had paused the rollout of the chatbot for a short while due to security concerns regarding generative AI. However, it has now become accessible to a more significant number of Apple employees. Approval is required to access the chatbot, despite the increase in the number of employees who can use it.
Several teams are working on the chatbot. Some of these teams are dedicated to addressing privacy concerns related to the technology. While others having access to it are tasked with product prototyping.
Lately, Apple has been on a hiring spree, looking for engineers and scientists specialising in artificial intelligence. The iPhone maker was looking for a software engineer with a background in generative AI to work on their “most advanced technologies.”
John Giannandrea and Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, are spearheading this effort, according to the report.
Giannandrea was initially appointed to supervise Siri and its machine learning skills, so there is a possibility that Apple’s digital assistant could be in for a much-needed upgrade.
While the development seems to be in full swing, it is currently unclear what plans Apple has for the chatbot. Sources tell Bloomberg that Apple could make a “significant AI-related announcement” sometime next year.
In an investor call, Cook weighed in on the potential of generative AI but also acknowledged the need to address its concerns. Then again, in an interview, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company is looking closely at AI while talking about the need to “self-regulate” the tech. So this could be why Apple is taking its own sweet time before its AI gets out into the hands of people.