What Will Apple Intelligence Launch Mean For The Startup Scene?

The launch of Apple Intelligence could make it really difficult for tech startups mainly because Apple is incorporating features directly into its operating systems that startups have been offering as standalone products.

So if Apple introduces its own advanced tools for text rewriting, proofreading, or image creation, users might prefer these built-in tools over downloading separate apps.
 

What Would Happen To These Startups?

 
This means startups that specialise in these could lose customers who now have access to similar functionalities directly from their Apple devices without needing additional software.

Essentially, Apple’s new features could make these specialised apps redundant, pushing startups to innovate further or risk losing relevance.
 

What Do Experts Think?

 
Experts share their thoughts on the impact Apple Intelligence has on startups:
 

Dr Anino Emuwa, Founder, Avandis Consulting, 100 Women @ Davos

 

 

“Apple Intelligence unveiled at the Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday, is Apple’s game-changing AI offering that aims to provide personalised experiences whilst using AI tools.

“This innovation has significant implications not just for users but also for startups, especially those in the tech and AI sectors.

“Apple Intelligence comprises three main components: text, images, and a Siri upgrade. The text feature allows for advanced AI capabilities in app and across app, while the image feature simplifies image creation even from sketches and allows the generation of personalised emojis.

“The Siri upgrade improves voice recognition and allows for text-powered activation, utilising by Open AI’s ChatGPT.

“For startups, Apple Intelligence can help to streamline workflows, making it easier for small teams to manage multiple tasks and reduce their reliance on a variety of apps or employing assistants to manage efficiency.

“This technology will likely shape the direction of tech development in the AI space, pushing companies to innovate beyond simply integrating AI into their products.

“With Meta, Google and others having already introduced in-App AI tools, the race is on to harness AI’s potential for consumers. It will be interesting to see how Apple Intelligence impacts innovation and the AI startup ecosystem in the coming months.”
 

Ben Maling, Managing Associate, UK and European Patent Attorney, EIP

 

 

“By embedding AI functionality at the operating system level, Apple is further raising the drawbridge on its closed ecosystem. Meanwhile, a number of high-profile missteps by other AI providers has given Apple an ideal opportunity to capitalise on its strong record on privacy and reliability, for which consumers bestow Apple an elevated level of trust.

“Start-ups and other providers looking to develop AI services for Apple devices will need to consider carefully what value they can offer that will be difficult for Apple to replicate.”
 

 

Richard Godfrey, CEO and Founder, Rocketmakers

 

 

“I think this announcement is generally good news and should be viewed as a positive step for the tech industry. We all know that Apple’s technology is proprietary to your local environment i.e. your phone or device, therefore it is likely to keep data more secure as you are not uploading potentially sensitive PII data to the cloud. AI holds immense promise, but one of the issues surrounding adoption is about data privacy and ethics.

“There is also concern that with AI you could end up incurring runaway costs, especially in the cloud. As AI tools and services see adoption growth, the costs of running those operations must be borne somewhere, likely with the provider.

“In order to train the models on which these systems run, there are costs, including paying to access data and the power needed to produce updated LLMs.

“With Apple Intelligence again this is all local to the device and therefore not consuming huge amounts of cloud computing power that these deep learning models need, which means it is potentially more energy efficient.

“In terms of what this means for the tech industry in general, as Apple Intelligence is part of the fabric of the device and ‘just there and available’ in the same way that Siri is, this will raise general end user awareness and mainstream adoption of the opportunities that AI creates.

“These technologies are not about creating a futuristic world; they’re about enhancing our current world, making us all more productive. When wielded correctly, AI makes businesses more efficient, drives better decision-making and creates more personalised experiences for users and customers.”
 

Julian Ritter, Partner, Stryber

 

 

“It’s improving user experience, but is going to bring little if any change to the startup scene”

“The announcement of Apple Intelligence is exciting news for consumers! Apple has always excelled at integrating new technologies and making them more user-friendly, seamlessly introducing new tech into our everyday lives through our mobile devices. I’ll definitely be using some of those features a lot!

“Though there will be a lot of buzz around the news amongst the consumer markets, for startups, it’s important to remember that not all that glitters is gold.

“This development was anticipated, and startup cycles are long, with only some startups being dependent on or concerned with Apple’s advancements. I do think that Apple Intelligence will help push the overall trend towards mass adoption and acceptance of AI.

“While this specific announcement won’t significantly alter the startup ecosystem, it’s clear that AI as a whole continues to have a profound impact on the startup scene. AI is already empowering startups to innovate, streamline operations, and offer personalised experiences – driving growth and competitiveness in their respective markets. Apple’s news is just a pebble in the ocean compared to what’s to come with AI and its impact upon the global business environment.”
 

Scott Sherwood, Founder, Testlodge

 

 

“The Apple Intelligence capability is pretty groundbreaking and will have a huge impact on startups – though it remains to be seen how positive this is. I know from my own experience there can be a lot lost in translation when AI starts taking communicative jobs.

“I previously had an AI support system give me incorrect information while developing a service, which was incredibly frustrating to solve. When trying to fix the issue, the bot would try to summarise my feelings, repeat what I had said and then continue to provide the incorrect information it had.

“I can see this being an issue when emails or similar items are summarised and returned to humans through the tool. It’s our instinct once things are shorted to be less diligent with what we are presented, and that could result in incorrect information making its way into items – something that can be tricky for founders to unravel down the line.

“On a more positive note, it will allow founders to save a great deal of time and money for a lot of the nuts and bolts things, as well as for any images and video that may need to be generated.

“While this will be felt by a lot of companies that historically would have produced that content – it’s unfortunately just one of the many industries that are going to seen ongoing disruption from this technology as it grows in capability and accuracy.”