Apple unlikely to engage Samsung in open battle over Galaxy AI

Samsung went all-in on advertising AI this year. Under the new Galaxy AI label, Samsung introduced a suite of tools powered by Google's artificial intelligence and machine learning systems and proclaimed that the Galaxy S24 is the first AI phone.

A new rivalry centered on AI is looming over the mobile market. Samsung was the first to make a move, which is why it seems as though the Korean tech giant has set the rules of engagement. Other phone brands dabbling with AI will have to go against Galaxy AI on Samsung's terms if they want to stay competitive.

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Apple is Samsung's biggest rival, however, this week's Apple iPad launch event may have given us a clue about the Cupertino giant's AI strategy. And if yesterday's event is anything to go by, the battle for AI supremacy between Apple and Samsung might not be as spectacular and direct as Samsung may have hoped.

Apple will likely pretend Galaxy AI doesn't exist

While Samsung promotes Galaxy AI as a huge feature with every opportunity it gets, Apple appears to have taken a different stance on AI and ML-based features.

The company does offer some AI and ML-powered tools, such as document scanning correction and seamless video background removal in Final Cut Pro for iPad, and Apple also helps app developers who want to implement AI and ML tools into their apps by offering a very powerful Neural Engine (NPU). The NPU in the M4 chip is capable of performing 38 trillion operations per second (TOPS).

However, even if Apple already offers some AI tools, it hasn't really made a big fuss about them. The company briefly showed them alongside other non-AI features as if they're simply par for the course, and parts of the Apple experience. It hasn't bunched up every AI and ML tool under a new “Apple AI” label or declared that the era of AI is upon us.

The way I see it, Apple refused to acknowledge Samsung and the Galaxy AI strategy altogether and hasn't even entered the AI battle arena with the release of the new iPad Pros. Apple appears to have ignored Samsung's efforts and tried to end the AI battle before it even began.

Or, at the very least, that's what I believe Apple is hoping to do achieve. It's the Apple way. As long as Apple pretends Samsung and Galaxy AI don't exist, and as long as it keeps introducing new AI features, Apple will set its own rules of engagement for this looming AI battle. It doesn't have to compete inside Samsung's stadium. In fact, Apple will likely continue to act like it's playing a different sport.