Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock is trading higher Wednesday as reports indicate the company is quietly working on artificial intelligence tools that could challenge those of OpenAI Inc, Alphabet Inc’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google, and others.

It has built its framework to create large language models or the AI-based systems at the heart of new offerings like ChatGPT and Google’s Bard, Bloomberg reports, citing familiar sources.

With that foundation, known as “Ajax,” Apple also has created a chatbot service that some engineers call “Apple GPT.”

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The AI push has become significant for Apple, including efforts to address potential privacy concerns related to the technology. The company has already deployed AI-related improvements to search, Siri, and maps based on that system. 

Ajax is now helping to create large language models and serves as the foundation for the internal ChatGPT-style tool.

Apple employees say the tool replicates Bard, ChatGPT, and Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) Bing AI without novel features or technology. The move is in response to concerns about third-party services leaking sensitive data.

Apple does not look to release it to consumers, though it is actively working to improve its underlying models. Reportedly, Apple is aiming to make a significant AI-related announcement in 2024.

John Giannandrea, the company’s head of machine learning and AI, and Craig Federighi, Apple’s top software engineering executive, are leading the efforts.

Apple is also looking to hire more experts in generative AI, its website ads indicate.

The company is planning a new health coaching service codenamed Quartz that relies on data from an Apple Watch and uses AI to personalize plans. The future electric car will leverage AI to power the vehicle’s self-driving capabilities.

AAPL Price Action: AAPL shares traded higher by 0.66% at $195.02 midday Wednesday.

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