If AI software is the biggest tech trend of 2023, it’s only natural that hardware will follow in 2024.
Next year, you can expect generative AI to become an integral part of smartphones, laptops, and other devices. Rumors of new AI-powered devices are already abound, and some companies are talking about big plans even if they haven’t announced any details yet.
Depending on your perspective on generative AI, such developments will be either exciting or exhausting, but we can all agree that they are inevitable. Based on what we’ve heard so far, here’s what we can expect on the AI hardware front in 2024:
GOOGLE
Google’s plan to embed generative AI into its hardware is no secret, and it’s already happening:
The Pixel 8 series includes a number of photo editing features that use generative AI on the device to fill in details. These include the “Magic Editor”, which allows users to move and resize people after taking the photo, and the “Best Face”, which can combine consecutive shots to include everyone’s ideal facial expressions.
Broader AI hardware support is reportedly coming in 2024. Sources tell The Information’s Jon Victor that Google is planning a new AI assistant called “Pixie” for the Pixel 9 and may be planning glasses with AI object recognition. because the latter is uncertain.
APPLE
Apple’s stance on generative AI has been more muted than some of its rivals. In an interview with Forbes writer David Phalen, CEO Tim Cook said the company has been working on generative AI for years but doesn’t feel the need to be first or slap “AI” into the names of related features.
Still, rumors suggest Apple has some big generative AI plans for next year:
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that Apple could bring generative AI features to its Apple Music and iWork suite, for example, to create playlists or create slide decks.
Wayne Ma from The Information reports that Apple wants to bring large language models to Siri in iOS 18. This can allow it to perform complex, multi-step commands, such as creating a GIF from a series of photos and sending it through the Messages app.
As MacRumors notes, a research note from Haitong International Securities analyst Jeff Pu claims that Apple is deploying hundreds of AI servers in 2023, with many more coming next year, and that its AI plans include a combination of cloud computing and on-device processing. did.
Apple researchers published a paper in December describing a new way to run large language models on computing devices with limited memory, using an unspecified computer with an M1 Max processor as an example.
OPEN AI
OpenAI hasn’t announced any hardware plans, but both the Financial Times and The Information reported in September that the company was brainstorming some sort of consumer device with former Apple design chief Jony Ive. The FT cited advanced discussions with SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son about raising $1 billion in funding to create the “iPhone of AI,” but the report does not attribute that term to anyone in particular.
Windows PCs
Intel is talking about “AI PC” with its 14th-generation Core Ultra chips that have a built-in Neural Processing Unit to accelerate productive AI tasks on the device. The company is working with more than 100 developers, including Adobe and Zoom, on the optimized software, and a Stable Diffusion image generator is already demonstrated inside the open-source image editor GIMP.
AMD has similar plans for Ryzen 8000 chips. The company says AI features are already enabled in software from Adobe, Blackmagic Design, and Topaz Labs, and it’s working with Microsoft to enable Windows to take advantage of AMD’s AI processing.
Meanwhile, Qualcomm is planning to make a big entry into the laptop market with its Snapdragon X Elite chip, but the applications are unclear so far.
ANDROID PHONES
On the mobile side, Qualcomm introduced generative AI capabilities for its Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 mobile processor, including on-device versions of the Stabile Diffusion renderer and Meta’s Llama 2 large language model. Honor has already confirmed a virtual assistant based on the latter feature for its upcoming Magic 6 smartphone.