- Trio wins chemistry Nobel for protein design, prediction
- SE Asian summit urges end to Myanmar violence but struggles for solutions
- Wimbledon replaces line judges with electronic system
- Record-breaking Root hits hundred as England power to 351-3
- Record-breaking Root hits hundred as England's power to 351-3
- Sabalenka relishes 'much-needed' tennis rivalry with Swiatek
- Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson set for six weeks out
- Taylor Swift got police escort to London gigs after Austria terror plot
- Cook tips Root to break Tendulkar's all-time runs record
- British skull auction sparks Indian demand for return
- Joe Root: England's elegant Test record-breaker
- Braving war: Lebanon's 'badass' airline defies odds
- Klopp to return as head of Red Bull football operations
- Hezbollah strikes Israel, says it foiled Israeli incursions
- Jurgen Klopp to return as head of Red Bull football operations
- Sinner to face Medvedev in Shanghai Masters quarter-finals
- US weighs Google breakup in landmark trial
- Record-breaking Root guides England to 232-2 in reply to Pakistan's 556
- Japan PM dissolves parliament for 'honeymoon' snap election
- Chinese stocks tumble on stimulus upset, Asia tracks Wall St higher
- 7-Eleven owner confirms new takeover offer from Couche-Tard
- Goodbye Tito? Tomb at risk as Serbs argue over Yugoslav legacy
- Restoration experts piece together silent Sherlock Holmes mystery
- Sinner avoids Shanghai deja vu with assured Shelton win
- Pyongyang to 'permanently' shut border with South Korea
- Trumpet star Marsalis says jazz creates 'balance' in divided world
- No children left on Greece's famed but emptying island
- Nepali becomes youngest to climb world's 8,000m peaks
- Climate change made deadly Hurricane Helene more intense: study
- A US climate scientist sees hurricane Helene's devastation firsthand
- Padres edge Dodgers, Mets on the brink
- Can carbon credits help close coal plants?
- With EU funding, Tunisian farmer revives parched village
- Sega ninja game 'Shinobi' gets movie treatment
- Boeing suspends negotiations with striking workers
- 7-Eleven owner's shares spike on report of new buyout offer
- Your 'local everything': what 7-Eleven buyout battle means for Japan
- Three million UK children living below poverty line: study
- China's Jia brings film spanning love, change over decades to Busan
- Paying out disaster relief before climate catastrophe strikes
- Chinese shares drop on stimulus upset, Asia tracks Wall St higher
- SE Asian summit seeks progress on Myanmar civil war
- How climate funds helped Peru's women beekeepers stay afloat
- Nobel Peace Prize to be awarded as wars rage
- Pacific island nations swamped by global drug trade
- AI-aided research, new materials eyed for Nobel Chemistry Prize
- Mozambique elects new president in tense vote
- The US economy is solid: Why are voters gloomy?
- Balkan summit to rally support for struggling Ukraine
- New stadium gives Real Madrid a headache
Apple to break AI silence at developers conference
Apple on Monday will attempt to persuade doubters on its AI strategy after rivals raced ahead in adopting artificial intelligence.
AI and perhaps even a partnership with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI will likely be a driving theme at the kickoff of Apple's WWDC developers' conference in Silicon Valley, according to analysts.
The conference is Apple's annual rendezvous for developers who create apps for iPads, Macs and iPhones -- and CEO Tim Cook will work hard to convince his audience that the company is a major AI player.
While Apple has been quietly including AI features in its hardware for years, it has yet to solidify its overall strategy or embrace ChatGPT-style generative AI that took the world by storm in late 2022.
Rivals Microsoft and Google have meanwhile rolled out products in rapid-fire succession, propelling Microsoft and the AI chipmaker Nvidia to surpass Apple as the world's biggest companies when measured by stock price.
Apple's share price has been on a roller coaster ride since the spark of the AI frenzy, but believers see Monday's announcements as the start of a new chapter for the iPhone maker.
While its "silence has been deafening, that will all change on June 10, when Apple crosses the AI Rubicon," predicted Dipanjan Chatterjee, an analyst at research firm Forrester.
At the heart of the announcements will almost certainly be an update to Apple's iPhone operating system, iOS 18, which is expected to see AI given a central role.
Silicon Valley is convinced that generative AI will profoundly change how users interact with smartphones and computers, but the technology is still in its early stages and the benefits not entirely clear for now.
Also heavily rumored is a "flagship" OpenAI partnership that could involve an exclusive chatbot for iPhone owners and supercharge the much-derided Siri.
All these announcements will set the stage for an expected iPhone 16 release later in the year and open the door to "a renaissance of growth" for the company, said Wedbush Securities senior analyst Daniel Ives.
Since Apple makes most of its money from selling iPhones, the AI will likely focus on its devices and services working more seamlessly together, said Creative Strategies analyst Carolina Milanesi.
"At the end of the day for Apple, it is about getting people to upgrade their iPhone," Milanesi said. "We will see if Apple gives them a compelling reason to do that."
- 'Litmus test' -
Announcements at WWDC will be a "litmus test" for Apple's ability to integrate ChatGPT-like generative AI into all its devices and services, said Emarketer senior analyst Gadjo Sevilla.
"Any misstep by Apple at this juncture could see it lose its place as a technology leader, especially as it is now sandwiched between two AI giants with actual products and release roadmaps that go well into the next two years."
CEO Cook already foreshadowed his commitment to AI by putting more powerful and AI-ready chips on iPad and MacBook releases earlier this year.
But the big challenge for Apple is how to infuse the technology into its products without weakening its heavily promoted user privacy and security, according to analysts.
ChatGPT-style AI voraciously feeds off data and Apple will be at pains to fight the AI race while living up to its traditional position on safeguarding data privacy.
"Being too controlling of an AI ecosystem could cause Apple to lose ground or fall behind while other companies are moving fast and breaking things," Sevilla said.
Y.Kobayashi--AMWN