Apple chooses Baidu AI, which always feels like a rumor

On March 25, reporters learned from people familiar with the matter that Baidu will provide AI functions for iPhone 16, Mac system and iOS 18 released by Apple this year. Apple had negotiated with Alibaba and another large domestic model company, and finally decided that Baidu would provide this service. Apple is expected to adopt API interface method for billing. Apple uses the AI ​​functions of domestic large models in its national iPhones and other devices mainly for compliance needs. The company cannot solve the compliance problem in the short term, but the AI ​​functions of foreign versions of iPhones and other devices all come from Apple's own large models. (Kechuangban Daily)

Of course, last week, there was another rumor that if you are abroad, Apple chose to cooperate with Google’s Gemini large model to connect to Apple mobile phones. At that time, I thought, if foreign countries cooperate with Google, who will they cooperate with in China? I would rather cooperate with kimi. I used large domestic models and found that Moonshot’s kimi is quite easy to use.

However, it was rumored yesterday that the choice was to go with Baidu’s Wen Xinyiyan. Affected by this news, Baidu's stock price rose today.

But what? After thinking about it, I always feel like this is a rumor.

Why do I say that?

The rumors are not consistent, and the previous rumors are inconsistent. The initial rumor claimed that Google's Gemini large-scale model was being used abroad, while the latest rumor stated that mainland China was using Baidu Wenxinyiyan for compliance, while foreign countries may use Apple's own AI large-scale model.

So, these sources may not be accurate. Of course, we cannot eliminate the factors that lead to no smoke without fire.

2. Last month, Apple just announced that it would give up its car-building plan and invest tens of billions of dollars in a ten-year car-building plan. It gave up when it said it was giving up. It is said that it was to invest in its own large AI model. Research and development, all in AI.

Is your purpose of all in AI to connect to third-party large models?

Domestic companies may have no choice but to choose domestic large models due to the impact of compliance and data security. However, foreign Apple must first choose its own large models according to normal logic.

However, technology manufacturers like Apple have always respected our laws and regulations. I think the best way is to use their own large models, just like data storage, and Cooperate with domestic service providers to keep the data in China, and the large models also comply with the laws and regulations here for customized development.

For a super international company like Apple, it is always not cost-effective to choose a third party.

After all, the future is the era of AI, and the mobile application ecosystem has come to an end. In the AI ​​era, there may be many AI native applications. If it is connected to a third party, this is undoubtedly Apple taking advantage of its own advantages. Build the AI ​​ecosystem for others.

3. If the rumors are true, Apple is really using a third party. Regardless of whether it is fully committed to all in AI, this shows one problem, that is, the large model developed by Apple itself is still It is in the development stage and cannot be applied. This shows that Apple is currently at least 3-5 years behind in AI research and development. Don’t forget that other large models are still evolving. The large model launched first is used by many people and has a first-mover advantage. The more people use it, the faster it evolves.

4. Therefore, Apple may have no choice but to use third-party alternatives in the early stage, and wait until it has developed its own large model before replacing them. Anyway, there are various signs that Apple feels like it has disappeared from the public after losing Steve Jobs. First, they gave up building cars and missed the good opportunity to build cars. Then, the large models were not produced for a long time, and the AI ​​layout was also late.

Think about it, Apple secretly built a car quite early, and Siri was launched quite early, but what was the result? Nowadays, Apple always feels like getting up early in the morning and rushing to a late market.