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Apple’s relatively weak position in the AI space just became one of its strengths.
The company has been widely criticized for falling behind its Big Tech rivals in developing generative artificial intelligence features and products. Apple has put off answering questions about when and how it will introduce AI products, which are widely expected to be announced at its Worldwide Developers Conference next week. But the company’s weakness (so far, at least) relative to AI heavyweights such as Microsoft and Nvidia has allowed it to avoid a new antitrust probe targeting its competitors. The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission have reached a deal to investigate Microsoft, Nvidia, and Open AI over potentially anticompetitive behavior in the AI space, The New York Times reports.
Apple is already on the antitrust hot seat. The DOJ in March filed a sweeping antitrust lawsuit against Apple for its alleged monopoly over the smartphone market. Regulators said the company’s anti-competitive practices not only hurt smartphone competitors but also developers of apps, smartwatches, and digital wallets. Apple has denied the allegations.
Even though Apple has been slow to develop and release AI features, the company has quietly acquired the most AI startups of any Big Tech firm. That includes its purchase of Darwin AI, a Canadian firm specializing in making AI systems smaller and faster — which suggested that the company might soon release AI tools for the iPhone. Indeed, Apple is expected to debut a range of AI features for iOS18, its next iPhone operating system, at its Worldwide Developers Conference. That reportedly includes a deal with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into Apple’s native apps.
The DOJ and FTC’s probe into Microsoft, Nvidia, and OpenAI could inform how the iPhone maker wades into AI, a space that is largely unregulated and dominated by few players. Because of Apple’s existing issues with antitrust regulators, it may proceed carefully.