Apple’s Tim Cook Says AI Concerns Still Need to Be Sorted Out

Tim Cook, chief executive officer of Apple Inc., greets customers during the opening of the new Apple BKC store in Mumbai, India, on Tuesday, April 18, 2023. Cook officially opened Apple Inc.’s first company-owned store in India, betting the iPhone maker’s retail outlets will help accelerate sales growth.

(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook expressed cautious optimism about the flood of new artificial intelligence services, saying that while the technology has huge potential, there also are “a number of issues that need to be sorted.”

Speaking on an earnings call Thursday, Cook noted that Apple already uses AI across much of its lineup, including in features like fall detection on its smartwatch. The company will continue to add the technology to more of its products, he said, but on a “very thoughtful basis.”

Apple CEO Tim Cook touched on the flood of new artificial intelligence services, pointing out the need to be “deliberate and thoughtful” during the company's earnings call.Source: Bloomberg

The remarks suggest that Apple plans to tread carefully in a contentious area. Though generative AI tools like ChatGPT have captured the public's imagination in recent months, they've also faced a backlash from some companies and governments. Business leaders such as Elon Musk have also called on developers to pause their training of powerful AI models, citing potential safety risks.

While Apple was one of the first major tech firms to implement AI, it hasn't pressed ahead as aggressively as companies like Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google.

Apple also hasn't talked up the subject as often as peers, which have peppered conference calls with mentions of AI and automation. Still, the company has made headway on AI, Cook said Thursday.

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“We've obviously made enormous progress, integrating AI and machine learning throughout our ecosystem,” he said. “And we weaved it into products and features for many years.”

In 2018, Apple hired former a Google executive to lead all of the company's AI initiatives and to serve on its executive team.

During the call, Cook declined to get specific about plans for implementing AI. He also didn't discus other companies' AI tools — like Google's Bard and OpenAI's ChatGPT — by name.

Beyond Apple's Siri voice assistant, the company doesn't offer any AI-focused consumer-facing apps or services. And it's unlikely to launch a chatbot competitor in the near term.

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