Apple buys iwork.ai, which raises hopes more than expectations

Apple has bought the web domain iwork.ai, which some are taking as evidence of plans to introduce major new artificial intelligence features into the company’s productivity suite …

Apple buys iwork.ai

This has led to one or two breathless headlines about the claimed significance of the move in terms of the three iWork apps – Keynote, Numbers, and Pages.

Apple’s .Ai Domain Purchase Signals Relaunch of iWork; to Compete with MS Office and Google Docs

Apple quickly snapped up the domain when it became available for purchase.

iWork.ai was recently purchased on the monthly expired .Ai domain auction administrated by Vince Cate. Although the dates were recently scrubbed from .Ai WHOIS, these screenshots captured today show that just last week, this .Ai domain was up for grabs, and Apple took it

The piece continues:

Apple’s iWork suite, known for its seamless web-based services facilitating document sharing and collaboration, is on the brink of a revolutionary transformation. Originally launched as iWork.com in January 2009 and later phased out in 2012 in favor of iCloud, iWork’s pivot towards AI integration marks Apple’s foray into the competitive AI arena. This shift is not just a resurgence of a service but a strategic response to rivals like Microsoft, who have been leading in AI and business integrations

But it likely doesn’t mean much

Attempts to introduce AI features into productivity apps are, of course, nothing new.

Since that infamous paperclip, both Microsoft and Apple have introduced a number of AI features into their respective apps over the years. But it’s certainly true to say that generative AI systems have boosted hopes for future developments.

The timing of the purchase follows a report suggesting that iOS 18 might be the biggest iOS update ever, and we’re expecting AI to play a major role here, including Siri getting ChatGPT-style capabilities. If ever there were a time for all of Apple’s products – iWork included – to get a big AI boost, this year would be it.

However, it’s worth noting that Apple frequently buys domains and trademarks names for no better reason than to prevent their use by someone else. This particular one just happened to become available last week.

So sure, 2024 is likely to see some big AI developments from Apple, and iWork will hopefully see some love as part of that – but don’t read too much into a domain name.

Via Macworld. Main photo: Philipp Katzenberger on Unsplash. Clippy image: Wikipedia.