The Algorithm Age

Apple’s position in the rapidly evolving artificial intelligence landscape is increasingly precarious. While rivals such as Google, Microsoft and even Samsung have surged ahead by integrating large language models (LLMs) and generative AI into their products, Apple’s progress has been notably cautious and incremental. Commentators and insiders alike question whether Apple is losing the race to harness one of the most critical technology revolutions of the decade. “I’m massively bearish on it (Apple) long term”, Dan Niles, founder of Niles Investment Management, told the Master Investor podcast, hosted by Wilfred Frost. “They are so far behind on AI, it’s not even funny”. Climbing a hill, while others sprint At the centre of Apple’s AI struggle is Siri. Intended to become a conversational assistant powered by large language models (LLMs), its evolution has spluttered. Former Apple employees describe attempts to integrate AI via “climbing the hill” – increment...

As June comes to a close and the impact of Apple's WWDC event starts to leave its mark, there's a lingering feeling surrounding Apple's AI approach. I've been using the iOS 26 developer beta on my iPhone for a couple of weeks now, and while it's still missing some of the upcoming Apple Intelligence features like Live Translation, it's clear (pun intended) that the primary focus of Apple's upcoming software updates is in the Liquid Glass redesign, not AI. Last week, top insider Mark Gurman reported that Apple execs had " held internal discussions about potentially bidding for artificial intelligence startup Perplexity AI. " He followed up that report with an excellent edition of his Power On newsletter for Bloomberg that went into the nitty gritty of how Apple could afford to spend big bucks on an AI company, rather than rely on sorting out its internal turmoil to get the iPhone's AI up to speed. As a Perplexity Pro subscribe...