Latest news with #BloombergNews'
Mint
22-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
Dave Lee: Apple must make peace with developers for AI success
If you read Bloomberg Businessweek's deep dive into Apple's blundering work with artificial intelligence, a consistent theme is its lack of clarity over what AI on an Apple device should actually do. On Tuesday, with the company looking no closer to an answer internally, we learnt it would soon open things up so others could have a go at figuring it out. 'The iPhone maker is working on a software development kit and related frameworks that will let outsiders build AI features based on the large language models that the company uses for Apple Intelligence," Bloomberg News' Mark Gurman reported, citing people with knowledge of the company's planned announcements at its coming and critically important Worldwide Developers Conference on 9 June. Also Read: Apple intelligence: It's time to step up and speak out I say 'critically important' because it's Apple's best chance to reset the negative energy around its AI work to date. At last year's event, executives announced a great sweep of features that, 12 months on, still aren't available on devices—despite glitzy (and carefully worded) advertising campaigns suggesting they would be. What has been launched, such as error-prone news summaries, has been disappointing. Apple's personal assistant Siri continues to embarrass the brand. Apple's decision to team up with OpenAI to help it deal with more complex AI tasks was an acknowledgment of its position as a laggard. This week's news might be seen as another. Then again, as I've said before, Apple has the luxury of time to get things right with AI. The iPhone is still the world's dominant smartphone, and its user lock-in has not yet shown any signs of being weakened by the appeal of AI features on competing devices. Also Read: The iPhone needs a new strategy to salvage Apple Intelligence But that time isn't limitless and opening up its foundational AI models for outsiders to build with is an indication of how desperately Apple wants to solve its problems sooner rather than later. Gurman writes: 'The new approach would let developers integrate the underlying technology into specific features or across their full apps. To start, Apple will open up its smaller models that run on its devices, rather than the more powerful cloud-based AI models that require servers." It gives developers the chance to come up with better applications for Apple's AI than the company has been able to manage itself. Using Apple's on-device AI models gives developers a chance to layer AI into their apps without needing to send information to the cloud or expect users to put up with lag times as the AI 'thinks.' In many ways, it is a repeat of the strategy that made the iPhone a breakthrough device in the first place. Apple introduced a software developers kit in time for the device's second generation, despite Steve Jobs not initially being sold on the idea. The iPhone's place in history would have surely been vastly different had he not been brought around. According to Businessweek, there had been a similar reluctance to mount a full-throated effort to build AI, with senior Apple figures unconvinced as to its true utility—which, in fairness to them, is still an open question. Regardless, opening up the challenge to third-party developers increases the likelihood that the iPhone will get a killer AI application before its competitors. Now, the question is how close Apple will let developers get to the real nuts and bolts of its AI and the user data that it harnesses. Also Read: Big Tech in the dock: The EU could force Meta and Apple to change their coercive ways Historically, the company has been notoriously protective—some argue anticompetitive—of how much access third parties get to its core functionality, as it prefers to keep some exclusively for its own products and services. It's why Apple has allowed only tap-to-pay cards in a user's Apple Wallet rather than a third-party bank app. It's also why the Apple Watch works better with an iPhone than smartwatches from other brands. Apple says this is all aimed at user privacy and a superior user experience. Its stubbornness in the matter has been extraordinarily lucrative, allowing it to levy a 30% tax on sales made through apps downloaded on iOS devices. Over the years, this fee has been seen as unjustifiable and exploitative. Developers have grown weary of Apple's values, a problem for the company as it looks to the same developer community in the hope it can do for Apple Intelligence what it did for iPhone apps. Persuading developers to build features with its AI and setting up what could be a new generation of lock-ins will require a carefully and sincerely extended olive branch. As I pleaded in a column not so long ago, perhaps Apple's best chance of succeeding at AI would be to adopt the spirit of a one-time rival's famous chant. So, do I expect CEO Tim Cook to cross the WWDC stage shouting 'Developers, developers, developers!"? No, I do not. But that doesn't mean he shouldn't. ©Bloomberg The author is Bloomberg Opinion's US technology columnist.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Asus Co-CEO on Tariffs Impact, AI
Asus Co-CEO Samson Hu says the company anticipates raising prices by 5-10% due to US tariff policy and the costs of supply chain diversification. Speaking with Bloomberg News' Annabelle Droulers on the sidelines of Computex Taipei 2025, Hu also stated that he foresees it will be another one to two years before AI driven upgrade cycle will take hold. Sign in to access your portfolio
NDTV
21-05-2025
- Business
- NDTV
Apple Desperately Needs The AI Help It's Seeking
If you read Bloomberg Businessweek's deep dive into Apple's blundering work with artificial intelligence, a consistent theme is the lack of any clear idea within the company as to what good AI on an Apple device should actually do. On Tuesday, with the company looking no closer to have come up with the answer internally, we learned it would soon open things up so others could have a go at figuring it out. "The iPhone maker is working on a software development kit and related frameworks that will let outsiders build AI features based on the large language models that the company uses for Apple Intelligence," Bloomberg News' Mark Gurman reported, citing people with knowledge of the company's planned announcements at its coming and critically important Worldwide Developers Conference on June 9. I say critically important because it's Apple's best chance to reset the negative energy around its AI work to date. At last year's event, executives announced a great sweep of features that, 12 months on, still aren't available on devices - despite glitzy (and carefully worded) advertising campaigns suggesting they would be. What has launched, such as the error-prone news summaries, has been disappointing, and the personal assistant Siri continues to embarrass the Apple brand. Apple's decision to team up with OpenAI to help it deal with more complex AI tasks was an acknowledgment of its position as a laggard. The news on Tuesday might be seen as another. Then again, as I've said before, Apple has the luxury of time to get things right with AI. The iPhone is still the dominant smartphone, and its user lock-in has not yet shown any signs of being weakened by the appeal of AI features on competing devices. But that time isn't limitless, and opening up its foundational AI models for outsiders to build with is an indication of how desperately Apple wants to solve its problems sooner rather than later. Gurman writes: The new approach would let developers integrate the underlying technology into specific features or across their full apps. To start, Apple will open up its smaller models that run on its devices, rather than the more powerful cloud-based AI models that require servers. It gives developers the chance to come up with better applications for Apple's AI than the company has been able to manage itself. Using Apple's on-device AI models gives developers a chance to layer AI into their apps without needing to send information to the cloud or expect users to put up with lag times as the AI "thinks." In many ways, it is a repeat of the strategy that made the iPhone a breakthrough device in the first place. Apple introduced a software developers kit in time for the device's second generation despite Steve Jobs not initially being sold on the idea. The iPhone's place in history would have surely been vastly different had he not been brought around. According to Businessweek, there had been a similar reluctance to mount a full-throated effort to build AI, with senior Apple figures unconvinced as to its true utility - which, in fairness to them, is still an open question. Regardless, opening up the challenge to third-party developers increases the likelihood that the iPhone will get a killer AI application before its competitors. Now the question is how close Apple will let developers get to the real nuts and bolts of its AI and the user data that it harnesses. Historically, the company has been notoriously protective - some argue anticompetitive - around how much access to give third parties to its core functionality, preferring to keep some exclusively for its own products and services. It's why Apple has allowed only tap-to-pay cards in a user's Apple Wallet rather than a third-party bank app. It's also why the Apple Watch works better with iPhone than smartwatches from other brands. Apple says this is all in the name of privacy and a superior user experience. Its stubbornness in the matter has been extraordinarily lucrative, allowing it to levy a 30% tax on sales made through apps downloaded on iOS devices. Over the years, this fee has been seen as unjustifiable and exploitative. Developers have grown weary of Apple's values, a problem for the company as it looks to that same developer community in the hope they can do for Apple's AI what they did for the iPhone. Persuading them to build features with Apple AI, setting up what could be a new decades-long generation of lock-in, will require a carefully and sincerely extended olive branch. As I pleaded in a column not so long ago, perhaps Apple's best chance of succeeding at AI means adopting the spirit of that famous chant from a onetime rival. Do I expect Tim Cook to cross the WWDC stage shouting "Developers! Developers! Developers!"? No, I do not. But that doesn't mean he shouldn't.
New York Post
19-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Minimums for a new Iran nuke deal, beware fake experts and other commentary
Iran beat: Minimums for a New Nuke Deal Even if Iran's leaders are 'willing to dispose of its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium, restrict itself to a purely civilian program and commit to never developing a bomb,' argue Bloomberg News' editors, they must also agree to see their advanced centrifuges (not needed for any civilian nuclear program) 'destroyed or removed from the country.' Unlike the flawed 2015 deal, new 'restrictions on enrichment will have to be indefinite or pushed out so far into the future that they might as well be.' Also, Tehran must agree 'to accept intrusive monitoring by American or European inspectors' as well as the International Atomic Energy Agency 'to demonstrate compliance.' Conservative: Beware Fake Experts 'The propaganda campaigns against Israel rely on an industry of manufactured 'expertise,' ' explains Commentary's Seth Mandel — but the game is collapsing. A Sky News anchor recently denouncing 'Israel's strike on a tunnel system beneath a Gaza hospital to eliminate senior Hamas officials, notably its de facto leader Muhammad Sinwar,' cited 'our experts' in insisting 'Israel was wrong to say there were tunnels underneath the hospital' — but then 'Hamas confirmed that the targeted area was indeed the site of a tunnel system,' followed by 'reports that Muhammad Sinwar's body was indeed found in the tunnel system targeted by the IDF.' Fact is, news organizations now find 'experts' whenever 'they're needed to lend an academic gloss to rank speculation and conspiracy theories.' From the right: Blacks' Bad Bet on Political Clout Passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 prompted groups like the NAACP to fast-track 'efforts to elect more black officials,' believing 'that black political power would naturally lead to black upward mobility,' but the election of black mayors, congressmen and aldermen hasn't resulted in 'the broader economic and social uplift that many expected from increased black political clout,' grumbles City Journal's Jason L. Riley. 'Political integration' and 'influence' have 'proved insufficient' as history shows 'political clout' has 'never been a prerequisite for minority socioeconomic advancement.' Blacks needed 'more than political saviors and affirmative action schemes,' they needed 'economic growth and opportunity' plus 'the development of self-reliance, work skills, and cultural norms that have succeeded in lifting so many other groups.' Advertisement Washington watch: Good Riddance to FBI HQ 'The closure of the J. Edgar Hoover building and the dispersal of the toxic Washington-centric [FBI] hierarchy is welcome news,' cheers Victor Davis Hanson at American Greatness. 'Most of the FBI scandals of the last decade were born in the Hoover building headquarters.' Special counsel Robert Mueller ran a '20-month, 40-million-dollar legal circus chasing the unicorn of 'Russian collusion.'' And FBI chief James Comey found 'Hillary Clinton likely guilty of, but somehow not indictable for, a number of felonies.' His successor, Christopher Wray, 'infamously oversaw FBI agents spying on parents at school board meetings' and the 'discredited Mar-a-Lago SWAT team raid.' And the agency suppressed 'any news considered problematic to the then-2020 Biden campaign' on social media. Let this closure ' also mark the end of the most sordid' chapter in the FBI's history. Hate patrol: Medicine's Antisemitism Problem Antisemitism is 'a problem among doctors, and a lot of that problem is concentrated among doctors educated overseas,' warn Jay P. Greene & Ian Kingsbury at Tablet. In a set of over 700 people 'profiled by the organization Stop Antisemitism,' Do Not Harm 'found that health professionals were more than 2.5 times more likely to be found among antisemites than their share of the workforce. Doctors were almost 26 times overrepresented,' and 'half of those Jew-hating doctors received their medical degrees abroad.' Among those, '68% were trained in the Middle East (40%) or Pakistan (28%).' 'This problem will only get worse as the rate of importing doctors from abroad is rising.' 'To be clear, the average foreign doctor is not an antisemite,' but 'in such large numbers, extremists among foreign doctors become more common.' — Compiled by The Post Editorial Board
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Griffin Says Cash May Have Been Best in Tariff Turmoil
As markets soared on a truce in the trade war between the US and China, Citadel founder Ken Griffin reflected on the past month, suggesting it would have been better to sit on the sidelines in cash. Griffin spoke with Bloomberg News' Sonali Basak during a taping of an episode of the upcoming series Bullish for Bloomberg Originals at the Four Seasons in Miami. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
