When Apple launched its Apple Intelligence product last year, the general reaction was: what took so long? The tech giant had proceeded cautiously with generative artificial intelligence (AI), while rivals Google and Samsung were unveiling new services that were giving their users a taste of smarter services.
For industry watchers, it felt like the iPhone maker could fall behind the competition.
Fast forward a few months and things look decidedly different. Now it looks as though Apple’s hesitancy to commit as strongly to AI could be a boon for the company.
The launch of Chinese start-up DeepSeek’s new AI chatbot last week shook the AI industry, leading to a plunge in tech stocks. CEOs have rushed to reassure investors that DeepSeek’s achievements won’t affect plans, and more importantly, the money train that AI has been riding for the past few years.
But while Nvidia saw $600 billion wiped off its value on Monday. Apple shares, on the other hand, rose. And although iPhone shipments fell short of what was expected when the company released its latest quarterly earnings last week, the AI industry’s loss could be a net gain for Apple in the long run.
The key thing is in how DeepSeek has been able to do more with less. Instead of requiring cutting-edge chips and an endless pile of cash to train models, DeepSeek apparently did it with less powerful Nvidia silicon and a total bill of $6 million.
If the story pans out – the US is investigating whether DeepSeek got access to restricted technology by other means – then it could bode well for Apple’s future AI plans. If DeepSeek can produce a decent AI that can run on lower-powered technology, Apple could, in theory, replicate that to run cutting-edge technology on its devices.
That works well from both a financial and a privacy point of view; keeping things on-device, rather than sending information to the cloud, is more desirable.
[ Microsoft, OpenAI probe if China’s DeepSeek-linked firm improperly accessed dataOpens in new window ]
Apple needs a win in AI. Its Apple Intelligence launch has been marred by delays and glitches, with the company removing AI-generated news summaries from its devices last month after publishers complained of errors.
DeepSeek’s development could be just what the company needs to reignite its competition in the smartphone market. Sometimes, wait and see is the best approach.
