Apple has a design for AI life. It hopes to build on the outstanding hardware performance its systems already provide to create a fantastic environment in which AI developers can thrive. If this plan sounds familiar it’s because it’s all about the App Store, and while it’s easy to expect Apple’s revenue share to change, the plan still makes the company the custodian of the AI age.
The way it should work is if app developers see that one way to bring their AI services to billions of iPhones, iPad, and Mac users is to make AI agents available via Apple’s own portals. These will likely be via App Intents, enabling Siri to execute actions inside their apps without actively opening them.
The Information reports some developers are resistant to joining the initiative, in part because they want to avoid paying any fees. All the same, consider the moment, consider the meaning, and I think the significance is that Apple has at last got its act together with AI.
Ecosystem, services, store
Apple is going to bet that the advantages its existing store provides will give customers the faith and trust to access AI apps there rather than somewhere else. The company hasn’t announced its plan yet, though there have been hints. Just look at how Apple is laying things out with these moves (both announced and speculated about). It’s:
- Working with Google to build out Apple Intelligence.
- Working with third parties to support AI services as apps with which to replace or supplement Siri.
- Maintaining investment in better hardware to run AI — you can quite happily run some models natively on an iPad.
- Equipping systems with powerful tools such as Unified Memory and the Neural Engine.
- Rolling out Apple Private Cloud Computer to provide an infrastructure to support private AI in the cloud.
- Pulling these elements together to form an ecosystem.
Like a jigsaw, the pieces fit together to provide a fantastic base from which Apple can distribute increasingly powerful AI APIs developers can use to create amazing AI experiences. I spoke with the smart people at the OmniGroup just last year who explained how they already use Apple Intelligence APIs (aka Foundation Models) to add powerful AI features to apps.
That was just the first lap; the second comes at WWDC 2026; and the third and subsequent races take place over the next 12 to 24 months as Apple implements the elements it’s put in place across its ecosystem.
Making money, one token at a time
The prize? For Apple, it’s about maintaining its own relevance within the AI age while carving out some way to generate revenue as its hardware ecosystem runs AI agents and services. The company will continue to develop and build out Apple Intelligence as a peer player in the competitive AI market. But, as most now agree, it is also focused on ensuring its platforms are the best systems on which to run AI.
Apple’s attempt to build a profitable, secure, and capable way to run AI — supported by customer-focused security and privacy standards— seems like an answer to some of the emerging challenges around AI deployment. Speak to almost anyone in IT right now and you’ll come across stories of corporate data leaks that may fall foul of data regulation. That’s before you even consider the manner in which AI ownership consolidates power over the intellectual future of humanity into such a small number of hands it almost makes media ownership seem democratic.
Getting the band together
With so much at stake, not just for Apple, it feels as if the company has found some of the answers that could enable a less frightening AI future. It has a chance to own the hardware ecosystem while curating the AI services environment for the benefit of its customers — and producing its own trusted systems for casual AI usage.
We’ll find out more in a few weeks.
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