Apple’s WWDC called a ’yawner’ amid delayed AI progress

Investing.com -- Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares fell 1.2% Monday as the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) was largely seen as a non-event, with news that its Siri AI enhancement work needed more time being the most significant takeaway.

The iPhone giant announced plans to open its artificial intelligence (AI) technology to third-party developers and announced a comprehensive redesign of its operating systems. Apple software chief Craig Federighi highlighted the company’s commitment to high-quality development, saying it needs additional time to refine certain features like enhancements to the Siri virtual assistant.

Apple analyst Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities called the event “overall a yawner”.

“Overall, WWDC laid out the vision for developers buy was void of any major Apple Intelligence progress as Cupertino is playing it safe and close to the vest after the missteps last year,” Ives commented. “We get the strategy but this is a big year ahead for Apple to monetize on the AI front as ultimately Cook&Co. may be forced into doing some bigger AI acquisitions to jumpstart this AI strategy. We have a high level of confidence Apple can get this right but they have a tight window to figure this out and that will be the focus of investors the next year.”

In addition to the disappointing comments related to AI, Apple showcased an array of incremental advancements, including a new "liquid glass" design for its operating systems, which will now bear yearly names instead of sequential numbers to simplify and unify the naming conventions across various Apple devices.

The redesigned operating systems for iPhones, Macs, and other Apple products will feature partially transparent icons and menus. This aesthetic change, according to Apple executives, is made possible by the advanced custom chips in current Apple devices, which provide significantly more power than those from a decade ago.

Among other enhancements, Apple introduced "Call Screening" for iPhones, which enables the device to automatically answer calls from unknown numbers, inquire about the purpose of the call, and display a transcription for the user. Furthermore, Apple is adding live translation to phone calls and allowing developers to integrate this live translation technology into their apps, ensuring functionality even if the other party does not use an iPhone.

The company also demonstrated the integration of OpenAI’s ChatGPT into its Image Playground app, with a commitment to user privacy, stating that user data would not be shared with OpenAI without explicit permission. Apple’s Visual Intelligence app will also be expanded to analyze items on the iPhone’s screen, offering users the ability to find similar products through apps already installed on their device.

This article first appeared in Investing.com