Apple CEO Tim Cook announced the company’s push into artificial intelligence at its annual developers conference event on June 10, 2024. This announcement led to Apple surpassing Microsoft as the most valuable company in the world.
With a market cap of $3.3 trillion, Apple edged out Microsoft’s market cap of $3.2 trillion after investors reacted positively to the news of the company’s AI plans. Apple’s shares surged more than 7% to a record high on Tuesday and continued to rise by about 4% on Wednesday. The company revealed its plans to incorporate generative AI technology into its native apps and latest devices, offering features like writing-assistance technology and AI-generated emojis.
Microsoft is expected to benefit from Apple’s AI ambitions as well, given their close ties to OpenAI, whose models will be featured on Apple devices. Microsoft is one of OpenAI’s largest investors and its Azure cloud services have seen growth due to the adoption of OpenAI’s models. Nvidia briefly took the second-most valuable public U.S. company position earlier this year before being surpassed by Microsoft once again.
Analysts from Morgan Stanley, Evercore, and Bank of America have expressed optimism about Apple’s new AI features, predicting that it will drive users to purchase new iPhones, potentially kick-starting an iPhone super cycle. However, some experts argue that this move may not be enough for Apple to maintain its dominance in the long run as other companies are rapidly catching up in terms of technological advancements and innovation in AI field such as Google and Amazon who are also heavily investing in this field .
