WWDC 2024 this year is expected to showcase some new AI-focused features across Apple's platforms, but this could be the start of a path that leads to the company's own robots helping you around the house.
That comes by way of Bloomberg's Mark Gurman in the latest issue of the Power On newsletter, where he reports "Apple has been working to build an Amazon Astro-style robot that can follow a user around the home and help handle chores."
"Executives at the company have even discussed the prospect of humanoid robots," he adds, suggesting that as with the cancelled Apple Car project, these robots would need an AI engine.
Apple could be working on humanoid and tabletop robots
Gurman also notes that the Siri revamp that's underway "could be at the core of Apple’s future table-top robot, which is essentially a large iPad display that can move around to mimic the head motions of a human."
"That device will be primarily controlled by voice — and having a more precise and sophisticated version of Siri will be invaluable. "
Sounds like the HomePod with a screen concept may have grown more ambitious than anticipated, and the AI inside "could help pave the way for AR glasses or camera-equipped AirPods" to help deliver environmental information to users.
Still, don't expect these products soon. As Gurman says, Apple's work on LLMs is far behind rivals like Google or OpenAI, so it'll need to push the development of it faster to avoid falling further behind.
