Google Bard Advanced leak shows ChatGPT rival is on the way — and Apple still is racing for Siri to catch up

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Apple is still behind in the public AI arms race.

AI chatbot on iPhone
(Image credit: Getty Images / Luis Alvarez)

A developer has just spotted a line of code seemingly from Google announcing the imminent launch of Google Bard, the company's ChatGPT competitor — the launch of which might point to how far Apple is behind its competition right now. 

Taking to X(formally known as Twitter), Bedros Pamboukian said that Bard Advanced will be free for 3 months and will come as part of a Google One subscription. Pre-empting those who might call him a leaker, Pamboukian clarified that “Again, not a leaker, but Google keeps putting stuff in plain sight and literally nobody realizes…”. Which is funny, given he published a leak.

This suggests that Google either isn’t too careful about this information or is teasing the imminent launch of Bard Advanced through its code. ChatGpt was reported to have over 180 million monthly users in December and Google Bard crossed 142 million users at the start of 2024. With such a huge initial user base looking elsewhere for their artificial intelligence hit, Apple’s AI injection into Siri has a lot to compete with. 

Apple’s woes — iMore’s Take

Top analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claimed last August that Apple's AI efforts were significantly behind Chat GPT, and not coming for some time — and given his reliable track record, we'd be inclined to take note. In an effort to make up for lost time and ground, Apple aims to spend 4.75 billion on AI servers this year. 

Apple has been developing devices with impressive Neural Engines for almost a decade now, which means it could be in a good hardware space for AI. The Neural Engines leave room for good on-device Siri support. However, the competition is linked to the internet and cloud-based solutions to retrieve answers, which Apple appears to be significantly behind on. 

No matter what state Google Bard Advanced launches in, Apple has to pay attention if it aims to compete. 

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James Bentley
James Bentley

James is a staff writer and general Jack of all trades at iMore. With news, features, reviews, and guides under his belt, he has always liked Apple for its unique branding and distinctive style. Originally buying a Macbook for music and video production, he has since gone on to join the Apple ecosystem with as many devices as he can fit on his person. 

With a degree in Law and Media and being a little too young to move onto the next step of his law career, James started writing from his bedroom about games, movies, tech, and anything else he could think of. Within months, this turned into a fully-fledged career as a freelance journalist. Before joining iMore, he was a staff writer at Gfinity and saw himself published at sites like TechRadar, NME, and Eurogamer. 

As his extensive portfolio implies, James was predominantly a games journalist before joining iMore and brings with him a unique perspective on Apple itself. When not working, he is trying to catch up with the movies and albums of the year, as well as finally finishing the Yakuza series. If you like Midwest emo music or pretentious indie games that will make you cry, he’ll talk your ear off.