Apple Inc is to deliver some of its upcoming artificial intelligence (AI) features this year via data centers equipped with its in-house processors, as part of a sweeping effort to infuse its devices with AI capabilities.
The company is placing high-end chips — similar to ones it designed for the Mac — in cloud computing servers designed to process the most advanced AI tasks coming to Apple devices, people familiar with the matter said.
Simpler AI-related features would be processed directly on iPhones, iPads and Macs, they said, asking not to be identified because the plan is still under wraps.
Photo: AP
The move is part of Apple’s much-anticipated push into generative AI — the technology behind ChatGPT and other popular tools.
The company is playing catch-up with big tech rivals in the area, but is poised to lay out an ambitious AI strategy at its Worldwide Developers Conference on June 10.
Apple’s plan to use its own chips and process AI tasks in the cloud was hatched about three years ago, but the company accelerated the timeline after the AI craze — fueled by OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini — forced it to move more quickly.
The first AI server would use the M2 Ultra chip, which was launched last year as part of the Mac Pro and Mac Studio computers, though the company is already eyeing future versions based on the M4 chip.
Relatively simple AI tasks — such as providing users a summary of their missed iPhone notifications or incoming text messages — could be handled by the chips inside of Apple devices.
More complicated jobs, such as generating images or summarizing lengthy news articles and creating long-form responses in e-mails, would likely require the cloud-based approach — as would an upgraded version of Apple’s Siri voice assistant.
The move, coming as part of Apple’s iOS 18 rollout in the fall, represents a shift for the company.
For years, Apple prioritized on-device processing, touting it as a better way to ensure security and privacy.
However, the components inside the processors can already safeguard user privacy, said people involved in the creation of the Apple server, called “Project ACDC” (Apple Chips in Data Centers). Apple uses an approach called Secure Enclave that can isolate data from a security breach.
For now, Apple is planning to use its own data centers to operate the cloud features, but it would eventually rely on outside facilities — as it does with iCloud and other services.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier on some aspects of the server plan.
Apple chief financial officer Luca Maestri hinted at the approach on an earnings call last week.
“We have our own data center capacity and then we use capacity from third parties,” Maestri said after being asked about the company’s AI infrastructure.
“It’s a model that has worked well for us historically, and we plan to continue along the same lines going forward,” he said.
The US dollar was trading at NT$29.7 at 10am today on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, as the New Taiwan dollar gained NT$1.364 from the previous close last week. The NT dollar continued to rise today, after surging 3.07 percent on Friday. After opening at NT$30.91, the NT dollar gained more than NT$1 in just 15 minutes, briefly passing the NT$30 mark. Before the US Department of the Treasury's semi-annual currency report came out, expectations that the NT dollar would keep rising were already building. The NT dollar on Friday closed at NT$31.064, up by NT$0.953 — a 3.07 percent single-day gain. Today,
‘SHORT TERM’: The local currency would likely remain strong in the near term, driven by anticipated US trade pressure, capital inflows and expectations of a US Fed rate cut The US dollar is expected to fall below NT$30 in the near term, as traders anticipate increased pressure from Washington for Taiwan to allow the New Taiwan dollar to appreciate, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) chief economist Lin Chi-chao (林啟超) said. Following a sharp drop in the greenback against the NT dollar on Friday, Lin told the Central News Agency that the local currency is likely to remain strong in the short term, driven in part by market psychology surrounding anticipated US policy pressure. On Friday, the US dollar fell NT$0.953, or 3.07 percent, closing at NT$31.064 — its lowest level since Jan.
The New Taiwan dollar and Taiwanese stocks surged on signs that trade tensions between the world’s top two economies might start easing and as US tech earnings boosted the outlook of the nation’s semiconductor exports. The NT dollar strengthened as much as 3.8 percent versus the US dollar to 30.815, the biggest intraday gain since January 2011, closing at NT$31.064. The benchmark TAIEX jumped 2.73 percent to outperform the region’s equity gauges. Outlook for global trade improved after China said it is assessing possible trade talks with the US, providing a boost for the nation’s currency and shares. As the NT dollar
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday met with some of the nation’s largest insurance companies as a skyrocketing New Taiwan dollar piles pressure on their hundreds of billions of dollars in US bond investments. The commission has asked some life insurance firms, among the biggest Asian holders of US debt, to discuss how the rapidly strengthening NT dollar has impacted their operations, people familiar with the matter said. The meeting took place as the NT dollar jumped as much as 5 percent yesterday, its biggest intraday gain in more than three decades. The local currency surged as exporters rushed to
RSS