Apple’s clear AI vision

Hey y’all. Apple is making Microsoft look behind on artificial intelligence, and it hasn’t even launched its new AI features yet. But first. [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( [by Austin Carr]( Hey y’all. Apple is making Microsoft look behind on artificial intelligence, and it hasn’t even launched its new AI features yet. But first... Three things you need to know today: • Meta delayed its chatbot for Europe after [regulators pushed back]( • The French government has offered to buy some of [Atos’ data operations valued at €700 million]( • A former staffer at Elon Musk’s Neuralink sued after she said she was scratched [by a monkey carrying the Herpes B virus](. A practical vision for AI Until last week, Microsoft Corp. seemed spectacularly ahead of Apple Inc. on artificial intelligence. Years before ChatGPT was a household name, [Microsoft bet $1 billion on its developer](, OpenAI, and the partnership yielded all kinds of early AI enhancements to Bing search, the Windows operating system and Office productivity apps. Then, on June 10, [Apple unveiled its own AI and ChatGPT integrations]( for the iPhone and Mac, and suddenly Redmond’s lead no longer looked so large. What’s crazy is that none of Apple’s features was particularly mind-blowing. In fact, their functionality is almost purposely limited compared with what Microsoft offers — yet I can’t wait to get my hands on what the company is calling Apple Intelligence. A huge caveat upfront: Apple won’t roll out these features for months, so it’s impossible to evaluate their quality. But the things they showed off felt impressively seamless and simple. There will be clever ways to search for photos based on context, share custom emojis on the Messages app, and have AI edit or summarize writing in documents and emails. You’ll be able to text and talk with (a much smarter!) Siri. And for anything Apple can’t do, it’ll surface a prompt allowing you to ask ChatGPT instead, an especially [notable get considering Apple didn’t have to pay for it](. I dig this approach because it aims to deliver useful AI components where and when you want them, rather than trying to become some universal galaxy brain. Is Apple Intelligence a standalone app? A feature add-on? An operating system-level integration? It’s essentially a mix of those experiences designed in such a way that you don’t have to think about it. Which perhaps only Apple can do thanks to its beautifully interwoven hardware and software. I remember feeling equally excited when AI upgrades came to Microsoft services last year. In early 2023, I started [playing with the Bing chatbot](, which was partly powered by OpenAI’s models and made Siri sound stupid. An [embedded integration soon arrived on my Windows PC](, enabling one-click access to its automated answers, a lovely convenience. These days, however, I find myself rarely using it. Part of the issue was that Microsoft doesn’t play an enormous role in my day-to-day life, save occasionally working at my Dell desktop and trolling friends while gaming on Xbox. I’m habitually glued to Google for internet queries, not Bing; I mainly speak with Amazon Alexa, not Microsoft’s discontinued Cortana voice assistant; and I store photos and chats on my iPhone, not a Windows Phone (RIP). That severs a lot of ways Microsoft’s AI could’ve been useful to consumers like me.    Another major issue was that it didn’t quite provide galaxy brain-esque responses nor much by way of OS enhancements. So I ended up paying [$20 a month for ChatGPT Plus](, which gives me access to the latest version of OpenAI’s models. It’s especially nice to have as an iPhone and MacBook user too, since it has native apps for both platforms. I mostly use it to look up stuff too annoying to search for on Google, engage in random chats and generate incredibly dumb memes to share with friends. I suspect I’ll soon split that “workload” between ChatGPT and Apple, with the former still answering my dumb questions and the latter producing my dumb “[Genmojis](.”  Microsoft recently launched a more advanced version of its [AI named Copilot Pro](, which also sells for $20 a month, but it’s hard to justify paying for that and ChatGPT. Arguably its most distinguishing features are the AI tools it brings to Word and Excel, but again, a lot of this can be done in ChatGPT, and Apple is touting similar features for free. While I was intrigued at first by the operating system enhancements Copilot Pro promised, thus far they’re pretty meh. And it struggles with complex requests. For example, when I ask it to stop certain programs from auto-launching with Windows or to remove the Dell bloatware from my computer, it’ll return detailed instructions when I’d rather Copilot perform the steps for me. Microsoft, meanwhile, is getting rid of a [service for building your own GPTs]( and just hit pause on an interesting [file-search system due to privacy concerns](. With Microsoft having a big head start and sinking $13 billion into OpenAI, I remain surprised the company hasn’t come up with more creative and compelling AI tools for its apps and hardware. Heck, I’d even settle for a Copilot to help troll my friends on Xbox. —[Austin Carr](mailto:acarr54@bloomberg.net) The big story Bill Gates said he’s ready to put billions of dollars into a next-generation nuclear power plant project in Wyoming to meet US electricity needs. TerraPower LLC, a startup founded by Gates, [broke ground for construction of its first commercial reactor](last week in Wyoming, where a coal plant is shutting down, the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft Corp. said on CBS’s Face the Nation. One to watch [Watch Oura CEO Tom Hale interviewed on Bloomberg Television about the sales growth of the company’s fitness ring.]( Bloomberg Technology podcast [Foundering: The OpenAI Story is a narrative podcast that examines the rise of Sam Altman, from the time he was a 19-year-old startup founder, then the head of Y Combinator, and now the billionaire king of this AI boom.]( Get fully charged Japan has been quick to embrace artificial intelligence, [says Microsoft Japan’s top executive](. US prosecutors charged two men with running a market for illicit goods on the [dark web](. London hospitals struggling to contain the fallout from a cyberattack against a critical supplier knew [they were vulnerable to hackers](. More from Bloomberg Bloomberg Screentime: The entertainment landscape is shifting rapidly. Cable empires are crumbling, streaming giants face new challenges and innovative forces are on the rise. Join Bloomberg's Lucas Shaw in Los Angeles on Oct. 9-10 for look at the future of media. Network with industry titans, immerse in live experiences and enjoy a curated collection of local eats. Get your tickets today. [Learn More](. Get Bloomberg Tech weeklies in your inbox: - [Cyber Bulletin]( for coverage of the shadow world of hackers and cyber-espionage - [Game On]( for reporting on the video game business - [Power On]( for Apple scoops, consumer tech news and more - [Screentime]( for a front-row seat to the collision of Hollywood and Silicon Valley - [Soundbite]( for reporting on podcasting, the music industry and audio trends - [Q&AI]( for answers to all your questions about AI Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Tech Daily newsletter. 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