SAN FRANCISCO (AP) 鈥� Apple is pumping more artificial intelligence into the latest iPhones during the holiday shopping season with a free software update that includes a feature that enables users to create customized emojis within a matter of seconds.
The Wednesday release of extends Apple's expansion into AI months after rivals such as and began implanting the revolutionary technology on their devices. The update builds upon another to usher in the AI era for Apple and the iPhone, as well as for the iPad and Mac.
The latest round of AI tricks includes 鈥淕enmojis,鈥� Apple's description for emojis that iPhone users will be able to ask the technology to create and then share. Apple says it is placing some limits its AI's emoji artistry to prevent the distribution of violent or hateful imagery. Other features include an 鈥淚mage Playground鈥� for a variety of AI-styled illustrations, writing tools and options for summarizing emails.
The technology won鈥檛 work on iPhones that Apple made before 2023 because it requires a special processor that isn鈥檛 in older models. The AI will work on the iPhone 16 line-up that and the premium iPhone 15 models released last year.
That exclusivity is expected to propel a cycle of iPhone upgrades during the current holiday shopping season into next year, driving up Apple's profit even higher from the $94 billion that the Cupertino, California, company pocketed ending in September. That expectation is the main reason Apple's stock price has climbed by about 30% so far this year to push the company's market value closer to the $4 trillion threshold for the first time.
Apple is broadening the AI suite's appeal by including English versions tailored for Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the U.K. that are included in the latest software update.
Although the iPhone's AI is similar to many of the features that have already been available from other companies, Apple is taking a slightly different approach to the technology in an effort to stand out from the rest of pack. It is emphasizing its ongoing commitment to protecting iPhone users' privacy by processing most of its AI on the device itself or corralling it in a secured data center. Users seeking more AI wizardry than the device or the special data center can handle will have the option to reach out to the popular ChatGPT technology made by OpenAI, which has with Apple.
Michael Liedtke, The Associated Press
