Apple’s AI ambitions: The race to master generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is no longer limited to third-party AI-specific companies, but has extended to tech giants including Google, X, and Apple, who are leveraging the technology to disrupt their product markets.

Apple, which still seems to be in the catch-up phase, is betting big on its AI plans with minor teases popping out in its rumour circles. But, not the first time as Apple CEO Tim Cook teased the iPhone maker’s AI ambitions publicly.

Cook delivered a message to Wall Street during the company's annual shareholders meeting, expressing his belief that Apple will "break new ground" in generative AI this year.

Cook's comments, made today, mark the second time when Cook has underlined Apple’s focus on AI innovation, some of which is likely to be unveiled at the Worldwide Developers Conference 2024, scheduled later this year.

Cook in the shareholders meeting said, "Apple is seeing incredible breakthrough potential for generative AI, which is why we're currently investing significantly in this area. We believe that will unlock transformative opportunities for users when it comes to productivity, problem-solving and more."

The upcoming iOS 18, set to be unveiled at WWDC, is expected to include new AI features to catch up with other tech mammoths such as Google and Microsoft which are spending more than $1 billion per year to incorporate advanced AI technologies in their lineup of products and services.

According to reports from MacRumors, iOS 18 is likely to include auto-generated Apple Music playlists along with AI-assisted writing in apps like Pages and Keynote. Apart from that, Apple is also planning to introduce an upgraded Neural Engine with "significantly" more cores in its flagship iPhone 16 Pro series of smartphones, enabling improved AI/machine learning performance. 

As investors await further details on iOS 18's AI features, Cook's optimism underlines how critical Generative AI is going to be for Apple, particularly in light of the recent discontinuation of the Apple Car project.

Although entering the competition after established players like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini, Apple's unique access to system-level platforms and custom-designed silicon positions it to enhance the overall ecosystem experience.