In the field of AI, Apple can be described as "getting up early and catching up late", and recently it is working hard to change the situation of lagging behind in generative AI.
On October 24th, Guo Minghui, an analyst at Tianfeng International Securities, posted that Apple expects to purchase 2000-3000 AI servers in 2023, accounting for 1.3% of global AI server shipments. In 2024, it will purchase 18000-2000 AI servers, accounting for 5%, with a total cost of approximately 5.37 billion US dollars (approximately 39.2 billion RMB) over the next two years.
It is understood that Apple CEO Cook has stated that Apple has been researching various artificial intelligence technologies for many years, including generative AI. Some analysts believe that Apple plans to launch a more intelligent version of Siri next year, applying artificial intelligence technology to as many applications as possible.
Apple Throws Thousands of Gold to Increase AI Fields
According to Guo Minghui's judgment, Apple's procurement of AI servers is mainly the NVIDIA HGXH1008-GPU, which is the most common and used for training and inference generative AI. The purchased chips in the fourth quarter of next year will be added to B100. It is expected that Apple will purchase 2000-3000 AI servers in 2023 and 18000-2000 AI servers in 2024, with each HGXH1008-GPU costing approximately $250000. Therefore, it is estimated that Apple will need to spend at least $620 million (approximately RMB 4.5 billion) and $4.75 billion (approximately RMB 34.7 billion) on AI server procurement in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
According to Mark Gurman, an Apple product analyst at Bloomberg, Apple's internal response to generative artificial intelligence is highly anticipated. Faced with the rapid development of artificial intelligence, Apple is eager to catch up and plans to launch a more intelligent version of Siri next year, applying artificial intelligence technology to as many applications as possible, including Apple Music and Productivity applications.
Previously, during Apple's quarterly conference call, Cook said, "Although AI is very interesting, there are still many issues that need to be addressed, and deploying AI requires careful consideration and consideration." He stated that Apple considers AI to be "great" and will continue to invest in related technologies for its products.
According to Guojin Securities Research Report, Apple CEO Cook recently made it clear that Apple is researching generative artificial intelligence and looks forward to adding jobs in the UK by hiring more AI employees. In fact, Apple has made certain achievements in the field of artificial intelligence, from Siri voice assistant to FaceID facial recognition technology, to the fall detection function of AppleWatch, Apple's AI technology has been deeply rooted in people's hearts. Studying generative artificial intelligence will enable Apple to enter a new technological field.
Why should Apple focus on AI? Perhaps it is because the market space in the AI field is vast. According to research by Omdia, a technology industry research institute, the market size of generative AI applications will grow from $6.2 billion in 2023 to $58.5 billion in 2028, with a compound annual growth rate of 56%.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently told the media, "I believe AI is the biggest opportunity right now. Just like cloud computing has changed all software categories, we believe that artificial intelligence is such a transformative transformation
Nadella stated that he has undergone four major transformations: first, the dominance of personal computers and Windows, then the rapid development of networks, mobile, and cloud computing, and now artificial intelligence. Nadella said, "If you cannot adapt to new technological changes, then you may lose everything
Large model of mobile phone manufacturers clustering and layout
Currently, in addition to Apple, Huawei is also continuously increasing its investment in the AI field and actively laying out large models.
At the Huawei Developer Conference held in July, Huawei Cloud officially released the Pangu Big Model 3.0 to the public. On September 21, at the Huawei All Connected Conference 2023, Pangu Big Model further released innovative services in fields such as mining, government affairs, automobiles, meteorology, medicine, digital humans, and research and development, helping industry enterprises "solve difficult problems and do difficult things".
In August of this year, Huawei Terminal BGCEO Yu Chengdong stated at the Huawei Terminal Developer Conference 2023, "Today we have entered the era of big models. Huawei's Pangu big model will help the Hongmeng ecosystem." He said that the Pangu big model will enable the Hongmeng operating system to have stronger AI capabilities, and the smart assistant Xiaoyi's ability to access AI big models will bring a smarter experience to the Hongmeng system.
It is understood that with the support of the Pangu model, Hongmeng 4.0 Small and Medium Arts can generate images based on user images, achieving automatic generation of email invitations, meeting records, and other functions. At the same time, Huawei advocates that the first principle of all AI experience innovation and scenario design is security and privacy protection, creating a more responsible AI, and promises that the content generated by AI will be labeled.
Not only Huawei, but also mobile phone manufacturers such as Honor and Xiaomi have pointed their finger at the AI big model. According to Tianyancha data, recently, Honor Terminal Co., Ltd. applied to register a "Magic Big Model" trademark, and the current trademark status is in the process of registration. Previously, the company had applied to register the "MagicGPT" and "MagicAI" trademarks.
At the Shanghai World Mobile Communication Conference in June this year, Honor CEO Zhao Ming stated that in the future, Honor will be the first to introduce the AI big model into smart phone terminals and cooperate with internet companies in the field of network big models, with relevant contacts already in place.
In August of this year, in Lei Jun's 2023 speech, he stated that Xiaomi smartphones will fully embrace AI big models, and Xiaomi's big model technology will achieve lightweight and local deployment. Lei Jun said that internal tests have shown that Xiaomi's mobile phone side model can already match the performance of the cloud in some scenarios.
In fact, as early as 2016, Xiaomi established an AI vision team and later upgraded it to Xiaomi's AI laboratory. In 2021, Xiaomi established the Xiaomi Robotics Laboratory, which empowers robots with AI capabilities in the IoT field. In April 2023, Xiaomi established a large model team with research interests including NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) and vision.
In October, OPPO announced that the new version of the AI assistant, New Xiaobu 1.0, based on the AndesGPT big model, had launched its first round of public beta testing. At the same time, OPPO will also collaborate with MediaTek to jointly build a lightweight large model terminal deployment plan.
According to Wang Jiping, Vice President of IDC China Research, terminals with hardware AI engine processors are facing a surge in development, especially in traditional terminal hardware markets such as laptops, desktops, tablets, and smartphones. This will also be an important driving force for leading the terminal industry out of its slump in the post pandemic era. IDC predicts that by 2026, nearly 50% of terminal devices in the Chinese market will have AI engine technology on their processors.
Guojin Securities Research Report stated that in the medium to long term, AI is expected to empower consumer electronics and bring new replacement demand. It is optimistic that demand will improve, autonomy and controllability, and AI new technology demand will drive and benefit the industry chain.