No, Apple doesn't need to buy Perplexity. It already owns the interface.
Why Apple is ahead of the pack in AI, and no one gets it.
Overly colourful talking-head Dan Ives is banging the table on Apple’s Blackberry Moment and how they need to execute on an AI strategy before it is too late..
Many other analysts seem to be bearish Apple’s AI strategy as well. The worry is that Apple is lagging behind Meta, Open AI, Microsoft and others in terms of AI-related product launches — and is bleeding key AI talent on top!
Meta poached Apple’s head of foundational models, Ruoming Pang, last month. Other senior foundational models team members have also left.. For me, that probably means Apple let them go as they could definitely afford them if they wanted to keep them.
But maybe Apple said they won’t play Mark Zuckerberg’s game? Probably.
Taking a step back for context…
In June we published a two-part series, The AI Tech Playbook, breaking down the dynamics and economics of every layer in the AI Stack.
The AI stack starts from the infrastructure at the bottom, moves to models and then applications before ending at the interface layer.
“Innovation without distribution is failure.” -Philo
The interface layer is the most important layer in this phase of the cycle, and Apple arguably owns the most important interface globally — its massive ecosystem.
The below is an expert from the AI Tech Playbook piece on Apple’s ecosystem, their AI strategy and why the interface layer matters 👇
Now let’s discuss how Apple is playing a completely different AI game and is in a different position than everyone else. Take note because this has consequence along the whole stack.
Let’s also discuss the Apple - Google Search arrangement that makes the former >$20bln a year, currently under threat — and how Apple plans to respond to it.