Apple CEO Tim Cook is excited about generative AI And he's betting that you'll be excited, too, as he shows off how Apple plans to incorporate the technology later this year

At Apple's annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday (Feb 28), CEO Cook said the company is "investing heavily" in AI And he told shareholders that it won't be long before Apple is ready to showcase its generative AI efforts

"Later this year, I look forward to sharing with you how we are breaking new ground in generative AI, another technology we believe can redefine the future," Cook said

This is the second time this month that Cook has given an AI teaser, having also told Wall Street analysts at Apple's holiday quarterly earnings call that AI will be detailed later in 2024 As he did then, Cook stopped short of saying Wednesday exactly what Apple might be planning, but added that he and other Apple executives "believe it will unleash transformational opportunities for our users with respect to productivity, problem solving, and more"

Unlike many of its competitors, including Google, Microsoft, and Samsung, Apple has yet to reveal its full AI roadmap Instead, the company reiterated that it is investing heavily in the technology and plans to do more

There have been some developments on Apple's AI front, though so far most of them are based on rumors The following are the biggest moves we have heard about regarding Apple's AI

Meanwhile, the earliest opportunity to see what Cook is talking about may come at WWDC 2024 It's where developers gather to talk about the software Apple plans to release that year and how to take advantage of new features in products like the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch [iOS 18 is likely to get a sneak preview at WWDC, and AI features are heavily rumored to be a key part of this year's iPhone software update Possible changes include a revamped version of Siri and the kind of generative editing tools already employed in devices like the Samsung Galaxy S24 and Google Pixel 8

Earlier this week, further material for Apple's focus on AI emerged when reports surfaced that Apple was disbanding its Apple Car initiative and reassigning many team members to Apple's experimental generative AI department

AI has potential pitfalls surrounding ethics, inclusion, and risk At Wednesday's Apple shareholder meeting, the AFL-CIO's pension trust had proposed requiring Apple to issue a report on the ethical use of AI; the AFL-CIO said, "AI systems are not a substitute for the use of copyrighted works and professional should not be trained on the voice, likeness, or performance of a performer"

For its part, Apple opposed the proposal, arguing that passage of the bill would expose the company to competitive risk as other companies would read the report and judge the company's plans Apple shareholders rejected the AFL-CIO's proposal