Tim Cook says Apple is building AI into ‘every product’ amid questions over its plans

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are “virtually embedded in every product”, Apple chief executive Tim Cook has said, amid ongoing questions over the company’s plans.

In recent months, as hype over AI has increased and most of Apple’s competitors have rolled out new features making use of the technology, Apple has stayed largely silent on its plans. During its recent Worldwide Developers Conference keynote event, for instance, it did not mention the world artificial intelligence at all.

That has led to concerns from some analysts that the company is failing to keep up with the quickly advancing technology, and that it could miss out on the opportunities it could bring.

But Tim Cook said Apple has been looking into artificial intelligence “for years” and that it was increasing that investment. Mr Cook made the comments as the company revealed its latest results, which showed a slump in sales of many of its products that was slightly offset by the increasing success of its services division.

He also said that the technology are central the design of its products, indicating that it was wrong to suggest that Apple had not yet integrated the technologies into its products.

“We view AI and ML as fundamental core technologies. And they are virtually embedded in every product that we build,” Mr Cook told CNBC in an interview.

“On a research basis, we’ve been doing research for on AI and machine learning, including generative AI, for years,” he added.

The chief executive also said that Apple’s focus on artificial intelligence was one of the reasons that the results showed an increase in spending on research and development.

“We’re going to continue investing and innovating and responsibly advancing our products with these technologies to help enrich people’s lives,” Cook said. “Obviously, we’re investing a lot, and it is showing up in the R&D spending that you’re looking at.”