Apple Collaborates with Baidu for AI Boost in iOS 18

Previously reported, Apple is increasingly focusing on the development of AI and plans to enhance AI capabilities in iOS 18. Recently, according to the Wall Street Journal, Apple is negotiating with Baidu, hoping that Baidu’s “Wenxin Yiyán” large-language model can provide AI functionality for the new Chinese version of the iPhone.

Image Source: macrumors

The Wall Street Journal speculates that if Baidu decides to collaborate with Apple and integrate its AI technology into Apple’s ecosystem, the features of the new iPhones in the Asian region may better suit our usage habits. Meanwhile, Google and OpenAI can also customize and develop AI features for the new iPhones in North America. Currently, Google and OpenAI’s AI services are not functional within the country. Considering this situation, Baidu’s “Wenxin Yiyán” large-language model also powers the AI services of Samsung’s latest AI phone, the Galaxy S24 Chinese version.

The report mentions that Apple has been seeking partnerships within the industry to apply various generative AI technologies to the iPhone. In addition to third-party technologies, Apple has invested a significant amount of time and money into developing its own generative artificial intelligence models, which will bring many AI features to iOS 18. Moreover, there have been recent reports that Apple has developed a generative AI technology that can edit images based on natural language commands, a feature likely to appear in the Photos app of iOS 18.

It is speculated that Apple may announce its collaboration with Baidu at the WWDC 2024 conference in June, where Apple will also officially introduce iOS 18 and its new system features. However, in China, if Baidu wishes to license the “Wenxin Yiyán” large-language model to Apple, it will need to declare to the relevant regulatory authorities.

[Source: Chāonéngwǎng]