Apple is reportedly planning to spend over $5 billion on AI servers over the next two years, in an attempt to catch up with its rivals in the generative AI field. This figure is based on a survey by TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who estimates that Apple will purchase between 2,000 and 3,000 AI servers in 2023, and possibly between 18,000 and 20,000 servers in 2024.
Kuo believes that Apple is making this investment in AI servers because it wants to train its own large language models (LLMs) in-house, rather than using cloud-based services. This is likely due to security and privacy concerns, as well as a desire for greater design flexibility.
Kuo also notes that Apple’s AI infrastructure and computing power will still be behind its competitors, even after this investment. This is because Meta and Microsoft are planning to purchase significantly more AI servers in 2024.
Kuo believes that Apple will need to have superior software development capabilities in order to catch up with its rivals in the generative AI field. He also points out that the purchase of servers is just one cost that Apple will incur, as it will also need to pay for labor and the cost of operating its infrastructure.
The sources for this piece include an article in AppleInsider.