Apple WWDC 2024: Apple Intelligence is here with ChatGPT integration

Apple will be integrating ChatGPT into its products, ChatGPT maker OpenAI announced in a recent press release. Some new features that the Apple-OpenAI partnership will bring about:

• Siri will give users the option to utilize ChatGPT to answer user questions
• Users will also be able to use ChatGPT to generate written content

OpenAI emphasized that privacy protections will be built in when using ChatGPT and Siri or Writing Tools.

"The ChatGPT integration, powered by GPT-4o, will come to iOS, iPadOS, and macOS later this year," OpenAI said in its release.

A quick reaction from Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives: "So far, all about Apple controlling device and the person and leveraging that as developers will need to tap into that data."

That user data will be key, he said. Apple's offerings so far are a bit more conservative than what Google and OpenAI have put forward, but that isn't the difference-maker.

"ChatGPT combined with data," Ives said. "They will win the consumer AI game."

The WWDC presentation has wrapped.

The big takeaway: AI — in the form of Apple Intelligence — is here, and market leader ChatGPT will be integrated into iOS and the other Apple operating systems moving forward.

But ultimately, there weren't a ton of fireworks. A lot of nice updates to features across Apple's product suite, but perhaps not the Big Bang that some analysts may have been hoping for.

Indeed, initial investor reaction is fairly muted, with Apple shares down 1.5%.

As Federighi stated, it's just the beginning. But it's a relatively subdued one.

Apple isn't just putting its new AI into the hands of consumers — it's putting it into the hands of developers as well.

Developers will be able to access new tools and features to help them integrate Apple Intelligence into their products. Aided by the sessions offered this week at WWDC, developers will be able to dive into the world of Apple Intelligence and offer more AI features to users.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman touted his company's partnership with Apple shortly after it was announced that ChatGPT would be available through Apple Intelligence.

ChatGPT can also be used for "Compose" mode, where users can create content using the AI platform, like a bedtime story for your child.

ChatGPT will be free to Apple users — and all information and data will be secure and private. It's coming later this year.

But, Federichi says Apple is leaving the door open to other AI models beyond OpenAI's product.

Apple introduces Apple Intelligence.  Apple

Federighi says Apple is integrating OpenAI's "pioneer and market leader" ChatGPT into Siri.

ChatGPT integration with Siri.  Apple

Image Wand, a new tool offered in the Notes app, will allow users to turn a rough sketch into what Apple calls a much more polished image — thanks to Apple Intelligence.

The market doesn't look impressed with Apple's AI presentation.

Its stock price is down 2.2% on the day.

Apple Intelligence will help edit users' writing, from class notes to blog posts to cover letters. Suggestions will be shown in line, and Rewrite will help people adjust the tone of their writing. Apple Intelligence will offer tips for grammar, word choice and sentence structure that users can accept.

With all the help Apple Intelligence provides, it's likely that employers will have a much more difficult time differentiating between cover letters.

I asked OpenAI's chatbot for its take on Apple's big announcement.

"I'm definitely intrigued! The concept of Apple Intelligence sounds fascinating," ChatGPT replied. "It could represent a significant step forward in integrating AI capabilities into Apple's ecosystem."

It's not yet clear whether Apple and OpenAI will be partners or competitors in the world of AI, though a partnership has been rumored.

Apple's introduction of AI is leaning heavily on what we've seen from generative AI for some time: the ability to help write emails, create pictures, respond to text prompts.

That's not a critique, and Apple is good at taking existing tech and making it consumer friendly. This could all still end up being a leap forward for users, but so far it's about what we would expect.

You can now plug in a description for an emoji idea and Apple Intelligence will create it. Apple is calling it GenMoji.

The introduction of Genmoji.  Apple

Apple's integration of AI is in keeping with its longtime promise to users: making it relatable — and secure.

It's doing this by making much of the AI processing "on device" — meaning within someone's own iPhone or Mac. The company is touting this as ensuring user privacy.

When it must go outside the device, it is creating Private Cloud Compute. These will use Apple-backed servers — but Apple will not be able to access or store your data.

AI is scary. Apple is trying to make it normal.

Yes, ChatGPT is open to the public. And Meta has put AI front-and-center in a lot of its platforms.

But Apple putting AI into its products and software is probably the largest rollout of the tech to consumers, a bet that this is something consumers will find helpful.

Siri is getting a refresh. Apple's top goals for Siri are to make the voice assistant more natural, relevant and personable using Apple Intelligence. Siri will now be able to:

• Speak more conversationally
• Respond to typed commands and switch between text and voice
• Answer questions about Apple features and settings
• Take actions within and across apps

It seems like Apple has avoided using “artificial” in relation to this AI tech.

Instead, there's an emphasis on "personal" intelligence.

If you're creating an article or blog post, Apple Intelligence will be able to enhance your writing.

And if you wanted to create an image, Apple Intelligence can help you build one from scratch.

A “woot woot” chant and clapping at promises for AI use “hand in hand" with privacy.

Apple announced its version of AI, which the company called Apple Intelligence. "It draws on your personal context to give you an intelligence that's most helpful and relevant for you," said Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of software engineering.

Apple

We're about to get into the AI section. Tim Cook introducing it by saying how it must integrate with Apple's core principles: powerful, intuitive — and provide meaningful connection to users.

It's time.

Tim Cook is teasing Apple's entry into AI, emphasizing it as "the next big step for Apple."

Apple is launching Passwords, an app that will allow users to access their passwords, verification codes and security alerts in one place.

This app will be available on the iMac, iPhone, iPad and Vision Pro as well as on Windows. Apple said that the passwords will securely sync across devices.

Named after the California tree, its new features are:

• iPhone mirroring
• Access your phone when it’s in a different room — and interact on phone wirelessly from a Mac
• iPhone notifications will simultaneously appear on Mac
• Window snapping when you drag a window to the edge of a screen

The AI-nticipation is killing me...

With the introduction of SmartScript, the Notes app will now allow users to select and copy their writing, as well as make it straighter. Using machine learning models, SmartScript will refine a user's handwriting as they go.

Get your pencils ready — literally: Calculator is coming to iPad — and now you can use its electronic Apple pencil to help users doing math problems on iPad.

Not many empty seats in the audience at WWDC today.

Attendees watching the presentation on the Apple campus in Cupertino, Calif. Jeff Chiu / AP

Apple mentioned cycle tracking, a feature that's available on the Health app, is available to help people track their menstrual cycle and will now show them their gestational age. Additionally, the app will display a user's pregnancy across all charts and notify them when their heart rate is too high.

Apple Watch is getting some new tweaks:

• A new Vitals app that has more enhanced features than the standard Health app
• Advanced fitness training using the watch's body tracking features
• A real-time translation feature
• A new ability to customize photos for the home screen of your watch

Apple mentioned that Rich Communication Services, known as RCS, will be coming to iOS. RCS is a communication protocol that aims to replace SMS messages. This change is expected to improve messaging between Apple and non-Apple users.

With anticipation of an Apple-OpenAI partnership, it's notable that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is in the audience.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, center, is attending the Apple event in Cupertino, Calif. Jeff Chiu / AP

Apple is adding a feature called "Voice Isolation" to AirPods that will allow background noise to be removed.

And a nod or a head-shake will also dial up Siri on AirPods.

Our correspondent Brian Cheung is on location for NBC News. Here's a quick peek behind the scenes, courtesy of CNBC's Steve Kovach.

Brian Cheung goes live for NBC News from Apple Park in Cupertino, Calif.  NBC News

So far, the features Apple is announcing are updates of existing products and services. While "intelligence" and "machine-learning" capabilities are built into some of them, a big AI reveal has yet to come.

Apple announced multiple key updates to its iMessage app.

First, users will now be able to react to texts with any emoji, not just the options originally provided by Apple. They will also be able to format and schedule texts for later.

Individual words and emojis can also be now be emphasized with a slate of new effects.

Finally, there will now be satellite capabilities on the iPhone 14 and later for both iMessages and SMS messaging. Apple emphasized that iMessages sent over satellite are end-to-end encrypted.

You'll soon be able to access topographic hiking trails, including offline, via Apple Maps. They'll also allow you to create and track your own routes.

Apple will let users do more to customize their iPhone home screen, including a new look for app icons in dark mode and a way to customize the colors off icons.

Control Center will also expand to include more settings including home controls and media playback, and providing a way for developers to add controls.

Apple announced its Vision Pro at last year's WWDC. Just now, Tim Cook shared that starting June 28, the Vision Pro will be available in China, Japan and Singapore, with more countries to follow in July.

Apple announced VisionOS 2, an updated software platform for its Vision Pro headset.

The key new feature: Vision Pro users will now be able to create "spatial photos" and "spatial videos" — 3D images that add depth to a regular 2-D image.

Apple teased the highly anticipated second season of "Severance" in its trailer hyping the company's streaming service:

Tim Cook started off the keynote by touting five years of Apple TV+. Apple teased new shows as well as some of its hits.

We're starting with some Apple executive skydiving and a few words from Tim Cook, who touts "profound new intelligence capabilities."

We're just a few minutes from kick off! Stick with us as we'll live blog the major announcements and whatever else comes along.

Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of marketing, tweeted out that watching today's keynote is the "intelligent thing to do," hinting that Apple will announce AI-related updates today.

Wall Street Journal columnist and NBC News contributor Joanna Stern posted from a quiet corner by the event. It'll only get busier from here.

Just ahead of kickoff, shares in Apple are actually trading slightly lower.

And Apple analyst Gene Munster says not to expect them to do much once the presentations are underway either.

Munster notes on X that Apple's expected AI rollout has already been "priced in," since a statement earlier this from an Apple exec foreshadowing it.

Since that post, on March 26, Apple shares have climbed 15%, Munster notes.

"The bottom line is today’s announcements are largely known and baked into the stock," he said. "What matters going forward is whether Apple will display a core competency in AI."

Apple CEO Tim Cook teased today's event in a post on X from the company's picturesque campus.

Many people have criticized Apple for being too slow in its adoption of AI. But independent analyst Ben Thompson says Apple is right on time.

"AI is a complement to Apple’s business, not disruptive," Thompson wrote for his website Stratechery.

He noted that smartphones will likely be the platform that AI technologies are released on for the foreseeable future, instead of AI replacing smartphones. And if Apple announces a partnership with OpenAI (as it is expected to do today), this will likely decrease the threat of OpenAI building its own device to rival the iPhone.

"[They] are well-positioned to be one of AI’s big winners," Thompson wrote of Apple.

Bloomberg's Jon Erlichman notes that on this day in 1977, Apple started shipping its Apple II computers, which helped put the company on the map and make personal computers accessible to the general public.

It's already a scene at Apple Park.

We’re staged with other media outside the Steve Jobs Theater, though the event is a bit of a walk over to Apple Park Loop. It's a cool 62 degrees but expected to heat up considerably as the day progresses.

More than an hour before the event, there's already hype men at the entrance trying to amp guests up. You can hear the occasional cheer.

Gene Munster, a longtime Apple analyst and managing partner and co-founder at Deepwater Assest Management, said today is Apple's most momentous conference since it announced the launch of the iPhone more than 17 years ago.

In a post on X, Munster said today was more important for the future of the company than the announcement of the Apple Store (July 2008), the iPad (January 2010), the Apple Watch (September 2014), Apple TV (March 2019) and the Vision Pro (June 2023)

"Even though AI won’t initially be a direct revenue segment, infusing AI across the product line is essential for the existing products to thrive," he said.

Apple's share price is up approximately 7% since June 13, 2023, while Google and Microsoft shares are both up more than 25%.

Apple will be kicking off WWDC24 at 1 p.m. ET with a livestream of the keynote on its website and YouTube channel, as well as the Apple TV app.

Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference, commonly known as WWDC, is an annual event to showcase the company's new software and technologies.

WWDC, which started in 1983, has been a launchpad for some of the company's biggest products. Last year, the company introduced its Vision Pro.

This year, WWDC will run from June 10 to 14 at Apple Park, with the keynote address delivered by CEO Tim Cook at 1 p.m. ET today. Additionally, sessions for developers will be held throughout the week, and the 2024 Apple Design Awards will be presented.

Apple's embrace of AI could help the company boost its profits and in turn its stock price, according to a note from Dan Ives, a managing director and senior equity research analyst at Wedbush Securities.

He noted that Apple's AI rollout could help spark growth in its key business, most notably iPhone sales.

"In a nutshell WWDC is a pivotal moment in Apple’s future as the developers are the hearts and lungs of the Cupertino growth story and will now start a new AI driven chapter in the Apple growth story for the coming years," Ives wrote in an emailed note.

For years, Apple avoided using the acronym AI when talking about its products. Not anymore.

The boom in generative artificial intelligence, spawned in late 2022 by OpenAI, has been the biggest story in the tech industry of late, lifting chipmaker Nvidia to a $3 trillion market cap and causing a major shifting of priorities at Microsoft, Google and Amazon, which are all racing to add the technology into their core services.

Investors and customers now want to see what the iPhone maker has in store.

New AI features are coming at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), which takes place on Monday at Apple’s campus in Cupertino, California. Apple CEO Tim Cook has teased “big plans,” a change of approach for a company that doesn’t like to talk about products before they’re released.

Read the full story on CNBC.com.

For some two decades, Apple has been the dominant force in the tech industry. The success of its iPhone has been so massive that it has now attracted the attention of the U.S. Department of Justice, which is suing the company for having created what prosecutors say is a monopoly on smartphones. 

But iPhones are expected to take a backseat in today’s presentation. Instead, Apple is expected to announce a brand new vision for the company as the age of artificial intelligence dawns. Through a widely foreshadowed partnership with ChatGPT creator OpenAI, Apple is set to discuss how AI will now be part of the core of its products and services. 

Is today the day that Apple becomes AI-pple?

Starting at 1 p.m. ET, Apple's keynote presentation for its Worldwide Developers Conference will kick off.

And while WWDC, as it's commonly known, is a big deal in the tech world each year, this is expected to be special.

The boom in artificial intelligence, most notably around Large Language Models and generative AI, has been embraced by just about every big tech company. But Apple is playing catchup.

That's expected to change today.