Here are the takeaways from today’s morning briefing, you can Sign up Receive in your inbox every morning:
Opening an email from your company’s top boss declaring “Code Red” isn’t exactly in the holiday spirit. But trying to stay ahead of the competition in artificial intelligence is no easy task.
OpenAI’s (OPAI.PVT)’s Sam Altman is rallying his staff to improve ChatGPT as new offerings from Google (GOOG, GOOG) and Anthropic (ANTH.PVT) stand out from the competition. But as AI players compete against each other, jockey for advantage, and spend money like crazy, it pays to take it all into account and plan your next move.
Of course, not everyone can do this. But Apple (AAPL) certainly can.
The iPhone maker and artificial intelligence laggard announced major personnel changes earlier this week, marking an inflection point in its artificial intelligence strategy.
The departure of its top artificial intelligence leader, John Giannandrea, who led the company’s efforts to release cutting-edge artificial intelligence products while its main competitors and many consumers forged ahead.
Amar Subramanya is an artificial intelligence executive at Microsoft. He previously worked at Google for 16 years and served as the engineering lead for Gemini Assistant.
“We view this as a significant shakeup and expect Cook and Co. to hire additional outside hires to get Apple on track in AI,” Wedbush analyst and Apple bull Dan Ives wrote in a note on Tuesday.
The change comes after Apple’s much-touted Siri artificial intelligence update was delayed until next year, reinforcing the belief among analysts and investors that Apple has missed the AI train. But it also followed an impressive quarter driven by strong iPhone sales, showing the company can still take its time.
The late AI strategy does have its merits. While its would-be rivals have struggled with AI rollouts, boardroom drama and initial public backlash, Apple has sided with Apple Intelligence, sidestepped the chaos and welcomed praise from analysts for a more thoughtful approach to AI to its products, rather than commoditized versions that client companies can replace.
A year and a half later, that argument has changed, with negligible excitement and vague levels of engagement in the AI game leaving the company simply lagging behind.
“The elephant in the room remains the invisible AI strategy,” Ives wrote. “The innovation output at Apple Park so far has been very disappointing.”
The leadership changes signal a shift to come. Apple is expected to finalize a new partnership with Google to use the search giant’s Gemini AI model to power its revamped Siri assistant. Apple already seems to be picking and choosing from the winners, content to sit in the customer’s shoes rather than the provider’s.
