Apple lags in AI race, but CEO Tim Cook says that's not a concern

Apple ’s consumer-facing artificial intelligence-powered tools, which the company has dubbed Apple Intelligence, will likely arrive later this month with iOS 18.1. That is more than a year from when Google pioneered into generative AI (GenAI) with the Pixel 7 series. Samsung joined the bandwagon a few months later with the debut of Galaxy AI on the Galaxy S24 series. However, being late to the party does not concern Apple’s chief executive officer Tim Cook.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Cook said Apple is “perfectly fine with not being first,” adding that becoming great takes a while. “It takes a lot of iteration. It takes worrying about every detail. Sometimes, it takes a little longer to do that,” he said. Cook’s statements address the speculation around Apple’s delayed rollout of AI features that it might hamper the company since its Android counterparts are pacing ahead rapidly.

While addressing that Apple is not the first to foray into GenAI space, he said,” But we’ve done it in a way that we think is the best for the customer.”

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman noted in his latest newsletter post that Apple Intelligence features will be underwhelming, lacking the “wow factor” that companies such as Google, Samsung, Meta, and even OpenAI already offer. While he pointed out that it may take some time for Apple Intelligence to mature to the level its competition is at, the company is over two years behind, citing Apple’s internal study where OpenAI’s ChatGPT was found to be 25 per cent more accurate and 30 per cent more responsive than AI-powered Siri. It is worth noting that Apple has partnered with OpenAI to allow Siri users to talk to ChatGPT in case they want better answers.

However, Cook has a different take. According to him, Apple would rather be ‘late’ but launch a product that can make a difference. “If we do both, that’s fantastic. But if we can only do one, there’s no doubt around here,” he said. “If you talk to 100 people, 100 of them would tell you: It’s about being the best.”