Is Apple Setting The Stage For AI In Office Apps? Domain Acquisition Sparks Microsoft Comparisons

Apple Inc. AAPL has acquired the iWork.ai domain, hinting at the possibility of Cupertino integrating AI into office productivity programs like Pages, Numbers, and Keynote.

What Happened: The.ai domain, initially a country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Anguilla, has evolved into a coveted asset among tech companies, symbolizing innovation and artificial intelligence beyond its geographical origins.

We checked domain ownership records, also known as Whois records, to confirm the ownership of iWork.ai domain. Apple is indeed shown as the owner of the domain, with the most recent update dated Feb. 10.

This was first spotted by BuyAIDomains.

Some popular services using the .ai domain are Perplexity, Jasper and even Google, but with a subsequent redirect to ai.google domain.

The iWork suite, first introduced as iWork.com in 2009, was replaced by iCloud in 2012.

While Apple could have simply cornered the iWork.ai domain to ensure copycats don't hijack it and mislead users, it's unclear if the company intends to integrate AI into its productivity apps.

See Also: Sam Altman Lauds Apple Vision Pro: ‘Second Most Impressive Tech Since The iPhone'

Why It Matters: Apple’s acquisition comes in the wake of Microsoft’s MSFT AI-focused initiatives, including the introduction of a dedicated Copilot key on Windows PCs and laptops and the launch of a $20 a month Copilot Pro AI subscription service.

Alphabet Inc.'s GOOG GOOGL Google’s Gemini has also been updated to answer questions about YouTube videos and summarize emails, further emphasizing the growing importance of AI in enhancing user experience.

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Read Next: Apple Vision Pro Could Cannibalize iPad Down The Line, Says Mark Gurman: Tim Cook Has His Work Cut Out

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

Photo courtesy: Carl Heyerdahl on Unsplash