Apple To Test Its Artificial Intelligence Services Using Foxconn-Made Servers: Report – News18

Apple is said to be a little behind its rivals when it comes to generative AI, but now it appears that the iPhone maker is gearing up to test its AI services using Foxconn-made servers. 

Foxconn will reportedly provide Apple with servers made in Vietnam to train and implement its AI services, according to a report by Taiwan’s Economic Daily News via South China Morning Post. This is another step by Apple to diversify its production away from China.

For those uninitiated, Foxconn is Apple’s largest supplier of iPhones, and according to the report, it is also Apple’s largest supplier of servers used in its data centers.

Moreover, Foxconn has a history of supplying hardware to big tech organizations such as Amazon, OpenAI, and Nvidia, so supplying servers to them is nothing new, the report said. 

‘Apple GPT’ Reported To Be In Development

In related news, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman recently said that Apple is actively developing its own system, dubbed‘Apple GPT.’ But he believes that Apple lacks a “clear strategy” and has not solidified its plans yet. 

Another analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo also said that Apple may still be lagging behind its closest rivals in the field of artificial intelligence. Kuo believes that Apple’s progress in generative AI is “significantly behind” its competitors. 

It is also well-known that while Apple is working on its AI ambitions, other companies are already making significant strides in the field of AI large language models (LLMs). Notably, Meta recently unveiled its Llama 2 LLM—which will be distributed through Microsoft’s Azure ecosystem. Google, too, has recently introduced its own LLM called PaLM2—which powers its Google Bard chatbot.