- Apple's WWDC event unveiled some AI features that are making some startups nervous.
- Apple has a history of making certain apps and services seem irrelevant by building competing features into iPhones and Macs.
- Apple Intelligence could take on startups like Grammarly, Midjourney and password-saving apps.
When Apple launches something new, it can send a warning signal to other startups.
That was certainly the case at Apple's WWDC event this week, where CEO Tim Cook and other executives detailed a host of AI features coming to iPhones, iPads, and Macs.
Soon after, the internet began buzzing about what this meant for startups offering similar services.
“How many startups did Apple kill in one hour at the Apple Intelligence event?” one TikTok user asked in a trending post. “Let's count.”
Putting Apple in a position to compete with apps and services doesn't necessarily mean a death sentence.
Dropbox CEO Drew Houston famously turned down a sale to Apple after previously telling Business Insider that Steve Jobs told him Dropbox was a feature, not a product, and was essentially like, “Okay, well, I'm going to have to go kill you.”
Dropbox, which continues to compete with iCloud, survived and went public, and is now valued at over $7 billion.
But there are plenty of examples of Apple coming under fire for building similar features into its devices that are offered by startups and smaller companies.
Remember the Flashlight app? Since Apple built one into iOS seven years ago, there's rarely been a need to download a third-party app. There was also Skitch, a once-popular annotation app that was eventually sold to Evernote. Apple has even brought its own markup tool to the Mac.
The updates announced at WWDC will enable Apple Intelligence to transcribe, proofread and summarize text within apps, and also include image generation tools and an improved Siri with advanced language understanding and text capabilities.
Other highlights include a new Passwords app that lets users store and access passwords, and a whiteboard-like math notes tool for solving algebraic equations and creating graphs from text.
So who should be nervous now?
Viewers of Apple's keynote were quick to voice their opinions on social media about apps that could be on Apple's potential kill list, including Grammarly, Midjourney, Humane's AI Pin, and 1Password. AI math and calculator startups, diary apps, and other organizational apps could also be replaced as part of the new update.
However, a Grammarly spokesperson told Business Insider that the company welcomes Apple's entry into a space where it has “operated for over 15 years.”
“The reality is that demand for Grammarly grows as new companies enter the market,” a company spokesperson said. “We are focused on innovating an OS-agnostic, enterprise-grade, AI-powered communications service that works across more than 500,000 apps and websites.”
Eric Noyes, who teaches AI entrepreneurship at Babson College, said Apple's new AI features are “not a big deal” for the startup world as a whole. Noyes said that while WWDC may have an impact on startups in the immediate AI space, Apple Intelligence won't have an impact on AI startups as a whole.
The companies have a few months before Apple Intelligence hits the market, and even then, the new system will only be available on the latest software: iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia.
But it's been a tense week for many startups as they realize that Apple is coming in and trying to take over their market.
