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<v Speaker 1>Let's say good morning to ABC's Mike Debuski, sitting in

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<v Speaker 1>for Rich Dmiro this week. Mike, Apple's making a big

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<v Speaker 1>investment in AI in the US.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that's right, this five hundred billion dollar investment that

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<v Speaker 2>they announced earlier this week. This is going to go

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<v Speaker 2>into a couple different buckets. So there's going to be

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<v Speaker 2>a new server factory in Texas, just outside of Houston

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<v Speaker 2>that's going to build these AI specific servers that are

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<v Speaker 2>designed to basically support their next generation of artificial intelligence technology.

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<v Speaker 2>That's one bucket of spending. Another bucket is going to

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<v Speaker 2>go to hiring a lot of new people at Apple,

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<v Speaker 2>about twenty thousand, they say over the course of the

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<v Speaker 2>next four years. Those people are going to be focused

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<v Speaker 2>on research and development, silicon investing, and of course, artificial intelligence.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, Mike, I have a question for you about these servers,

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<v Speaker 1>because everybody's saying that, oh, the AI gobbles up so

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<v Speaker 1>much power and all of that stuff. So what is

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<v Speaker 1>a server? I mean, is it like a giant ware

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<v Speaker 1>house with a bunch of computers in it? What does

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<v Speaker 1>it look like?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that's a great question, and it's going to be

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<v Speaker 2>a question that people are talking about a lot going forward,

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<v Speaker 2>because you're right, these AI systems, as they become more prominent,

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<v Speaker 2>as they get added to more and more technologies that

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<v Speaker 2>we use, they take up a lot of energy. They

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<v Speaker 2>require a lot of computing power. And people might not

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<v Speaker 2>know this, but when you run a program on your

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<v Speaker 2>laptop or you open an app on your phone, oftentimes

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<v Speaker 2>it's not that device that's doing the computing. It's just

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<v Speaker 2>not powerful enough. So it offloads some of that work

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<v Speaker 2>to what's called a data center, which is as you described,

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<v Speaker 2>basically just a big building full of computer servers, right,

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<v Speaker 2>computers that are dedicated to supporting these technologies. And these

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<v Speaker 2>data centers are all across the country, all around the world,

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<v Speaker 2>and they've been building them more frequently given that these

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<v Speaker 2>technologies that we've been sort of focused on in recent years,

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<v Speaker 2>everything from the metaverse to cryptocurrencies to now generative artificial

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<v Speaker 2>and intelligence, require these huge outlays of computing power. So

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<v Speaker 2>what this factory that Apple is building in Texas is

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<v Speaker 2>designed to do is to build the servers that go

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<v Speaker 2>into those data centers. So it's very behind the scenes.

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<v Speaker 2>It's not like a computer that you or I would

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<v Speaker 2>ever really encounter, but It is going to be very,

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<v Speaker 2>very important for these systems to run more smoothly, run

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<v Speaker 2>more quickly.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, And why is Apple doing this investment in the

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<v Speaker 1>US now? Does it have anything to do with Trump tariffs?

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<v Speaker 2>It certainly does, in fact overtly so. So last week

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<v Speaker 2>we saw Apple CEO Tim Cook meet with President Trump

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<v Speaker 2>at the White House to discuss recent tariffs. Earlier this month,

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<v Speaker 2>the Trump administration imposed a ten percent tariff on all

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<v Speaker 2>goods made in China that includes things like the iPhone,

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<v Speaker 2>the iPad, and the Mac obviously hugely valuable products for Apple. Now,

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<v Speaker 2>coming out of that meeting, the President said that Apple

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<v Speaker 2>will be moving manufacturing to the US, quote because they

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<v Speaker 2>don't want to pay the tax tariffs and then lo

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<v Speaker 2>and behold. This week there's a half a trillion dollar

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<v Speaker 2>investment announced from Apple. So this is as much a

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<v Speaker 2>political move as it is a technological move. There's a

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<v Speaker 2>lens through which you can view this as Apple hedging

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<v Speaker 2>its bets on the future of artificial intelligence, kind of

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<v Speaker 2>shoring up the tech infrastructure that's going to undergird that

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<v Speaker 2>future technology. And there's a political lens saying, Hey, Apple,

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<v Speaker 2>I want to extend this Olive branch to the Trump

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<v Speaker 2>administration saying, hey, we're not quite moving iPhone production to

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<v Speaker 2>the United States, but we are spending here and can

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<v Speaker 2>we maybe get a break on some of the tariffs.

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<v Speaker 2>I think that's kind of what Apple has in mind.

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<v Speaker 2>Whether that will actually come to pass in reality, I

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<v Speaker 2>think that remains to be seen, and.

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<v Speaker 1>We will be watching for that. And real quick before

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<v Speaker 1>you go, Amazon's holding an event because somebody is getting

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<v Speaker 1>a makeover.

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<v Speaker 2>Yes, Alexa, and apologies to everyone in California who's Alexa devices.

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<v Speaker 2>I just activated there. But this is their this is

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<v Speaker 2>their very popular voice assistant, baked into smarts seas and

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<v Speaker 2>an app, and there's there's web you know, sort of

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<v Speaker 2>integrations as well. But this is a voice assistant that,

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<v Speaker 2>despite its name recognition, has kind of fallen behind other

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<v Speaker 2>competitors in the voice assistant space, namely Google Assistant. And

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<v Speaker 2>Amazon is planning to unveil an all new version of

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<v Speaker 2>Alexa later today here in New York City, and they

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<v Speaker 2>say that it's going to be competitive again with an

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<v Speaker 2>infusion of artificial intelligence. This is another AI story, the

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<v Speaker 2>same way that we talk to you know, Alexa. Now

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<v Speaker 2>it's kind of stilted, right, you have to use these

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<v Speaker 2>sort of very specific words and phrases. It's kind of

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<v Speaker 2>awkward given that large language models are designed to replicate

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<v Speaker 2>human speech. The idea is that your Alexa will be

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<v Speaker 2>a lot easier to talk to. You can just talk

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<v Speaker 2>to it like we are talking right now in natural language.

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<v Speaker 2>That's the promise. Whether that actually works in reality, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>we'll we'll have to wait and see. I certainly hope

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<v Speaker 2>that there is a live demonstration component to this event

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<v Speaker 2>later today that we can look at to see if

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<v Speaker 2>it actually does work in the real world, because something

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<v Speaker 2>that we have to talk about every time we bring

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<v Speaker 2>up generative AI does have a tendency to go wrong.

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<v Speaker 2>It makes things up, it gets things wrong, and that

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<v Speaker 2>means Amazon is taking on a pretty big risk by

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<v Speaker 2>baking it into one of their most recognizable technologies.

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<v Speaker 1>So we'll be asking Alexa, are you lying to us now?

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<v Speaker 2>Alexa, what are you talking about?

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and again, apologies for the name. ABC's Mike Debuski.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much for the information.

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<v Speaker 2>Appreciate it, of course, Amy. Take care