An AI group with some of tech’s most influential players—Amazon, Google, IBM, Facebook, and Microsoft—was established last September. But it was missing one key component: Apple
The Partnership on AI to Benefit People and Society is reportedly set to announce Apple as a late addition to the founding members of the organization, according to Bloomberg.
The nonprofit was founded to bring companies together to enhance AI by working collaboratively on research projects, establishing best practices, and publishing research under an open license.
Apple was the first company to popularize AI on a consumer level when it released its Siri assistant on the iPhone 4S in October 2011. Since then, other companies like Google and Amazon have caught up, and now offer products generally regarded as more capable than Apple’s still beloved assistant.
Joining the AI partnership isn’t a move you’d expect from Apple, a company that loves to keep its properties tightly locked within its own ecosystem. It seems the Cupertino icon realizes the importance of collaboration for something as important and potentially dangerous as the development of AI.
Apple will participate under the direction of Tom Gruber, head of advanced development for Siri.
Other well-known companies that opted out of joining the group include Twitter, Intel, and Baidu.
H/T TechCrunch
