Apple might use the Chinese internet giant Baidu’s models for generative AI on iPhone in the 1.4 billion people country, its biggest overseas market.
Apple is racing to bring generative AI to iPhone with iOS 18, and the company reportedly held talks with potential external partners like Google and OpenAI about using their models. And now, the Wall Street Journal reports that the Cupertino company recently held exploratory discussions with Baidu over AI for its devices.
The story reveals that the Chinese government has already approved over 40 generative AI models for domestic companies, including Baidu’s Ernie Bot.
Apple may use China’s Baidu for generative AI on iPhone
In China, Apple has been looking for a local generative AI model provider, mainly because China requires such models to be vetted by its cyberspace regulator before being launched to the public, people familiar with the matter said.
And:
No models made by foreign developers have been approved yet, and it isn’t known if any foreign companies have sought government approval.
Apple is a laggard in the AI race
The introduction of the ChatGPT chatbot last year marked a watershed in AI that surprised even Google. Apple has always lagged behind Google in AI, and the introduction of ChatGPT caught the company on the wrong foot.
Apple’s initial response was to reevaluate and discontinue several long-running developments, including Project Titan, which proved a huge money pit, to free up engineering resources for generative AI work.
It’s widely believed that iOS 18 will bring generative AI features, but we’re not so sure about that anymore. That Apple is talking to external partners proves it can’t compensate for lost time. Generative AI on iPhone would boost the Siri assistant and bring AI-powered content creation via prompts to Siri, photo editing and email.
Will iOS 18 have generative AI?
Apple will preview iOS 18 and other software at WWDC, its upcoming annual event in June, but generative AI isn’t guaranteed to be the focal point of iOS 18.
The real possibility is that iOS 18 brings a large language model to make the Siri assistant smarter and execute complex commands, with generative AI added in future updates to iOS 18 or delayed until iOS 19 in 2025.
Beefing up the Neural Engine
Sources say Apple aims to run large language models and AI tasks directly on the device to preserve user privacy. To that end, the company is thought to boost the Neural Engine, a coprocessor in its custom chips dedicated to running AI tasks in a battery-friendly manner without burdening the CPU or GPU.
At the same time, Apple’s rumored discussions with Google, OpenAI and Baidu indicate that some AI tasks in iOS 18 will be offloaded to models running in the cloud.