Apple's focus on AI could be boosted by the man behind the Apple Watch's success

Apple has long been rumored to be planning a big new push into the world of artificial intelligence with CEO Tim Cook having already teased that something is coming in 2024. Now, a new report suggests that the AI focus could have received a boost from someone who has been integral to the success of the Apple Watch.

Kevin Lynch has long been a driving force behind the Apple Watch, reporting directly to Apple Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams. And while he will continue to oversee Apple Watch progress, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says that he has been moved over to work on the Apple AI problem as well. What's more, he's now reporting directly to John Giannandrea, Apple's AI chief.

2

The reason for that move wasn't clear, but Gurman, writing in the weekly Power On newsletter, now says that people close to the matter believe that Lynch's move is designed to bring some order to the Apple Ai project, a project that has long proven to be problematic for Apple.

Apple's progress in the world of AI has long been an issue and it's struggling to create large language models the likes of which already power OpenAI's ChatGPT as well as similar chatbots. Gurman suggests that Giannandrea is overdue a promotion to the senior vice president tier of the company, and it's thought that Lynchg may be in place to take his role should the opportunity arise.

Apple is expected to lean heavily on AI when it announces its updated iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro software at WWDC on June 10.