With generatative AI like ChatGPT all the rage, it's only natural to wonder whether Apple is working on its own product.
Well, as of press time, Apple's US careers page lists 176 open positions across its various machine learning and artificial intelligence teams - with 43 of them posted just this month. Of the entire pool, 68 jobs relate to Apple's digital assistant, Siri, while 52 of them have to do with iOS and 46 with macOS. Some jobs also pertain to multiple products.
If you're performing a clean search of the term "AI", you'll find 88 results. But when you search the job board for the term "generative", with the team filters applied, that query surfaces 48 results. The word "generative" appears in the job titles of eight postings:
- Multimodal Generative Modeling Research Engineer
- Visual Generative Modeling Research Engineer
- Machine Learning Engineer - Generative AI
- Visual Generative Modeling Research Engineer
- Proactive Intelligence, Applied Research Scientist - Generative AI
- Generative AI Applied Researcher - SIML, ISE
- Proactive Intelligence, Applied Research Scientist - Generative AI
- Proactive Intelligence, Applied Research Scientist - Generative AI
Apple has reportedly frozen hiring, though it's pretty clear to us that it's following in the footsteps of others in Big Tech by shifting where it's picking up personnel. Yes, it's all artificial intelligence, all the time now.
TechCrunch noted during Apple's Q2 earnings call that the company said it would approach generative AI in a "deliberate and thoughtful" way. The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Apple had begun restricting the use of generative AI chatbots within the company to prevent leakage of any sensitive information. Both moves seem to be within Apple's typical modus operandi.
Apple's developer conference, WWDC, is scheduled to begin 5 June, so we may get to see a few AI-focused tidbits and, if we're lucky, barely a wink toward OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google Bard. Our bet, though, is that we'll be waiting a while yet to see something bigger.
It's also important to keep in mind that, for all the massive Apple successes out there like the iPhone and Mac, there are also the Lisas and the HomePods.