Apple could be developing a new App Store dedicated to AI applications as part of its push into the novel technology, according to a new analysis from Wedbush Securities.
In an investor note seen by Supercharged, the research firm predicts that Apple could preview an entirely new App Store experience focused on AI that could be previewed at WWDC 2024 in June. Details of what this new AI App Store might entail are so far unclear, but Apple could use it to promote new generative AI features as part of iOS 18 and other software updates for third-party developers to adopt in their apps.
Apple is strongly rumored to be working on integrating AI features across the board with its next major software releases in a bid to catch up to offerings from OpenAI, Microsoft, and more. The company is also working on its in-house Large Language Model (LLM) to power its crop of AI services, with the company strongly interested in deploying its LLM models on-device rather than in the cloud over privacy concerns.
In addition to a revamped Siri based around LLM, Apple is said to be working on integrating AI into apps like Music and Messages. For example, one of the goals calls for apps such as Messages and Siri to better understand questions contextually and to provide more accurate auto-complete predictions for sentences and phrases. Apps such as Messages and Siri will also better understand questions contextually and provide more accurate auto-complete predictions for sentences and phrases.
AI features beyond iOS 18 could also be heading to software development tools like Xcode, allowing developers to write and test apps faster than before by presenting auto-complete suggestions for written code. Other rumored features include AI-generated playlists on Apple Music as well as auto-generated slide decks and writing assistance on Keynote and Pages.
Apple is rumored to be pursuing a licensing deal worth millions of dollars with established publishers around the world to use their news and content archives for accurately training its LLM AI models.
