Tim Cook says that Apple is spending "a tremendous amount of time and effort" on AI features that will be announced in the coming months.
A Siri icon superimposed on Apple Park
Apple's Cook took the opportunity of the firm's latest financial earnings call to enthuse about the Apple Vision Pro and the future of AI. "We are announcing these results on the eve of what is sure to be an historic day as we enter the era of spatial computing," he said. "Moments like these are what we live for at Apple, they're why we do what we do."
He said that this is "why we're so unflinchingly dedicated to groundbreaking innovation," and also "why we're so focused on pushing technology to its limits as we work to enrich the lives of our users."
"As we look ahead," he continued, "we will continue to invest in these and other technologies that will shape the future that includes artificial intelligence, where we continue to spend a tremendous amount of time and effort and we're excited to share the details of our ongoing work in that space later this year."
Cook initially said nothing more than that, and it was only an implication that the news would happen during the year instead of at the end. That does fit with recent reports that Apple will make significant AI and Siri announcements at WWDC in June.
In response to questioning about AI, Cook did expand on his brief statement. "In terms of generative AI," he added, "we have a lot of work going on internally as I've alluded to before."
"Our MO, if you will, has always been to to do work and then talk about work, and not to get out in front of ourselves and so we're going to hold that to this as well," he continued. "But we have got some things that we're incredibly excited about, that we'll be talking about later this year."
Perhaps the most significant element of Cook's promise of forthcoming news was how he set up that initial announcement. Apple is a technology company but also one that is very much focused on how it can "enrich the lives of our users."
Cook is saying that Apple is not leaping onto the AI bandwagon just in order to catch up with the rest of the industry. He's saying that Apple has been looking for a point for adding AI features -- and that it has found it.