Sources: Apple built Ajax, a framework for building LLMs, created a chatbot app that some engineers call “Apple GPT”, and is planning an AI announcement in 2024

- Company builds large language models and internal chatbot — Executives haven't decided how to release tools to consumers

Bloomberg 2023-07-20 Mark Gurman

Context & Ripple Effects

This report marks Apple’s early move from observing the LLM wave to building internal model infrastructure and testing a company chatbot, while leaving consumer distribution unresolved.

Subsequent coverage connected Ajax to Siri and Messages testing and described a broader local-and-cloud AI processing strategy. That arc matters because it frames the internal work as a foundation for product integration rather than a standalone chatbot launch.

First-order effects

Apple’s engineering organization gains an in-house LLM framework and a chatbot environment for experimentation, rather than relying solely on externally supplied tools.
The reported 2024 AI announcement puts pressure on Apple to turn internal research into a defined product strategy, even as executives had not settled on consumer release plans.

Second-order effects

Product teams can evaluate where Ajax-derived capabilities fit in existing interfaces; later reporting on Siri and Messages comparisons indicates that assistant quality and integration become the practical tests.
The unresolved release decision leaves room for external-model partnerships alongside Apple’s own stack, a path later coverage associated with an opt-in AI service and an OpenAI deal.

Third-order effects

If this pattern holds, consumer AI competition shifts from standalone chatbots toward assistants embedded in operating-system surfaces, where model capability, privacy posture, and distribution are jointly important.
Apple’s reported combination of internal models and outside partnerships suggests a durable hybrid sourcing model: platform companies may keep strategic control of the experience without building every model capability themselves.

The trend: This is an early signal of platform companies turning LLMs into an assistant operating layer across their core software, using a mix of proprietary and partner models.

Discussion

@bilawalsidhu Bilawal Sidhu on x
Apple, for the love of God... please make Siri better. It's 2023, and the competition is miles ahead. I can barely use it to set reminders, let alone have a conversation. Yes I want my own AI Jarvis, but I'll settle for parity with Google Assistant. K thx bye. [image]
@flyosity Mike Rundle on x
I'm so old that Apple calling this technology Ajax was briefly confusing
@ktguru @ktguru on x
A good reiteration why Bloomberg is a deeply-flawed and compromised news entity. And a good reason why I haven't read a news story there since I first became aware of their contorted “profit-for-hyperbole” pay incentives for their “journalists.” @gruber https://daringfireball.net…
@manan @manan on x
lol, Apple doing LLMs is a joke. Has anyone at Apple used Siri??? If Cook says Apple GPT has roots in Siri, then it's going to be garbage. https://www.techmeme.com/...
@joannastern Joanna Stern on x
Seems like just a matter of when for Apple on this. Every OS, productivity suite, etc. is going to have generative AI. Google and Microsoft all ready all over it.
@stevesi Steven Sinofsky on x
Apple is developing generative AI tools and an internal chatbot app dubbed “Apple GPT” that could take on OpenAI and Google // Apple better hurry otherwise they are doomed. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@rachelmetz Rachel Metz on x
the best part is “Apple GPT” is “Apple, I farted” in french. (if you're familiar with “chat j'ai pété”, you may appreciate this joke.)
@newsynick Nick Turner on x
If you've been wondering what Apple has been doing in generative AI the past few months, we finally have a clearer picture
@mgsiegler M.G. Siegler on x
Is AppleGPT just ChatGPT with more superlatives?
@scobleizer Robert Scoble on x
Apple always is late.
@markgurman Mark Gurman on x
NEW: Apple races to build next-generation, Generative AI features to catch up with OpenAI and Google. The company has developed a framework called “Ajax” to build LLMs and has deployed “Apple GPT” internally. It's aiming for a consumer product next year.
r/apple r on reddit
Apple is reportedly developing its own generative AI chatbot to rival ChatGPT | It's called Ajax, though nobody knows how it'll be implemented.
r/ChatGPT r on reddit
Apple has developed “Apple GPT” as it prepares for a major AI push in 2024
r/singularity r on reddit
Apple Tests ‘Apple GPT,’ Develops Generative AI Tools to Catch OpenAI
r/technology r on reddit
Apple is testing its own Ai model to rival against OpenAi and ChatGPT.

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