After seeing the leaked "Top 10 AI Features", is Apple going to disappoint the market this time?

Author: Zhu Xueying

Source: Hard AI

When the market is eagerly anticipating Apple's upcoming "AI big move," a product rumored to be called "Project Greymatter" seems to have poured cold water on everyone.

According to media reports this week, Apple is set to unveil a new AI tool solution at the 35th Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC24) next month, named Project Greymatter, mainly targeting core applications such as Safari, Photos, Notes, and some operating system functions.

However, it is reported that Project Greymatter is not a completely new artificial intelligence product, but more to enrich the functionality of various applications. The rumored top ten features include:

• AI photo editing
• Voice memo transcription
• Automatic email/sms reply suggestions
• Personalized emoji generation based on message content
• Safari web search improvements
• Spotlight search optimization
• More natural Siri interaction experience
• Advanced Siri optimized for outdoor tasks on Apple Watch
• Intelligent summary generation, summarizing missed notifications, messages, web pages, news articles, files, notes, etc.
• Developer tools for Xcode

It is worth noting that, seemingly to better manage user expectations, some media outlets have suggested that Apple may initially release the above new AI tools in a "preview" form in the beta version of iOS 18, indicating that these AI technologies are still being continuously improved before the official release, with an expected release date in September this year.

So why is Apple in such a hurry to introduce new AI features at the WWDC24 conference in June? Perhaps because competitors' frequent actions have pushed Apple's sense of urgency to the limit.

However, the question remains, can Project Greymatter, which adds to existing features, meet investors' eager expectations?

Competitors are thriving, Apple has no choice but to join in

In the past three weeks, OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google have all held various artificial intelligence events, many of which have seen significant AI technological advancements. Yet even at the Apple earnings call on May 2, Apple CEO Cook remained vague about the company's AI strategy, only mentioning the "huge opportunity of generative AI in Apple products" and promising that Apple will take a favorable position in the field of artificial intelligence.

This has only increased investors' desire for Apple to disclose more AI details.

Therefore, for Apple, to solidify investor confidence, AI is a topic that cannot be avoided at the upcoming WWDC conference. Dan Ives, Managing Director of Wedbush Securities, stated that this conference is the "most anticipated event for Apple in the past decade."From the current perspective, the market seems to be dissatisfied with Apple's slow progress in the field of AI. However, some still believe that Apple, being Apple, has an advantage that is hard to erase in the AI arms race.

Gene Munster, co-founder of asset management firm Deepwater, stated that Apple's existing product line may help consumers continue to choose Apple products over those of competitors. He pointed out that the "seamless" connection between Apple devices and privacy protection are important advantages for the company in the competition for top positions in the AI field.

Kerwin, an analyst at investment research firm Morningstar, also has a positive view on Apple:

Apple's main advantage lies in its large installed base of devices and the strong, loyal user base... We expect Apple to receive strong market reactions whenever they announce a new generation of AI