Apple is to test AI services which might boost Siri's capabilities
Apple's artificial intelligence work has now extended to it needing a series of servers for testing, and Foxconn is its exclusive supplier.
Tim Cook has said that Apple has been working on AI for years, and it's Machine Learning tools also pervade everything it does, but it hasn't got a ChatGPT-like app as rivals have. Or at least, it doesn't have one outside of internal use.
Now according to the South China Morning Post, Apple has ordered an unknown number of servers that are specifically for the training and testing of AI services. The servers are to be made by a division of Apple supplier Foxconn, called Foxconn Industrial Internet, and built in Vietnam.
Foxconn is reportedly already Apple's biggest supplier of servers for its data centers. The South China Morning Post says that Foxconn accounts for approximately 43% of the server market globally, not just within Apple.
Neither Apple nor Foxconn have commented. However, it is believed that this division of Foxconn already supplies servers to ChatGPT OpenAI, as well as Nvidia and Amazon Web Services.
News of the order follows recent conflicting reports from analysts about Apple's plans to compete against AI chatbots. Bloomberg has said Apple intends a major launch in 2024, but Ming-Chi Kuo says that's unfeasible.
