After AI chatbot ChatGPT exploded onto the scene this year, Google called a “code red” on the situation. Within months, the company had hastily rolled out Google Bard, its answer to that system. Meanwhile, we’ve seen a Microsoft chatbot in Bing Chat, and Meta is even launching an open-source large language model (LLM).

But what about that other big tech company Apple? It has been conspicuously absent from the AI chatbot conversation thus far. According to a new report from Bloomberg, though, the company is privately working on its own chatbot, cheekily dubbed “Apple GPT” by some of its developers.

According to the report, Apple has developed its own LLM platform based on Google JAX, a system Google created for machine learning applications. Because of its connection to JAX, the Apple-made LLM is dubbed “Ajax” for now.

Sources speaking with Bloomberg admit that multiple teams are working on “Apple GPT.” Those teams are being led by Apple mainstay Craig Federighi and ex-Googler John Giannandrea.

Apple GPT: What will it be?

Like ChatGPT et al., Apple’s chatbot responds to text prompts to perform functions. However, Apple still doesn’t know what to do with it. It has no plans to release the system to the public and hasn’t pinned down how the technology will integrate into its larger portfolio.

The company is also in no rush to figure any of this out. Informants speaking with Bloomberg said Apple will likely make a “significant AI-related announcement” in 2024. In other words, Apple is clearly not under the same pressure to join the conversation as Google was earlier this year.