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Apple Inc. (AAPL) may not be building the world's most advanced artificial intelligence models, but Dan Ives believes it could still become one of the biggest consumer AI winners.
Speaking on The Real Eisman Playbook, the veteran tech analyst argued that Apple's greatest advantage isn't competing with OpenAI, Anthropic or Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL)'s Google on foundation models—it's owning the devices through which billions of people will eventually access AI.
Ives said Apple occupies a unique position in the AI ecosystem because of its massive installed base of iPhones, iPads and Macs.
"Apple's the Easy Pass on the consumer AI highway," he said.
Rather than trying to build every AI capability itself, Apple can become the simplest route through which consumers interact with AI-powered applications and services every day.
Ives believes that advantage could translate into enormous scale.
"One in five people on Earth are going to access AI through an Apple device," he said, highlighting the company's unparalleled reach across consumer hardware.
His comments suggest Apple's AI opportunity is less about winning the race to develop the most capable large language model and more about becoming the primary distribution platform for AI experiences.
The AI race has largely been defined by breakthroughs in chips, cloud infrastructure and foundation models. Ives, however, believes the consumer layer deserves just as much attention.
By controlling the hardware millions of people already use every day, Apple could play a pivotal role in bringing AI into the mainstream, regardless of which company ultimately powers the underlying models.
For investors, that shifts the focus from Apple's AI model ambitions to its ecosystem. If consumers increasingly interact with AI through Apple devices, the company could become one of the technology sector's biggest beneficiaries—not because it built every model, but because it owns the front door.
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