Dive Brief:

• Apple joined the Partnership on AI to Benefit People and Society (Partnership on AI) as a founding member, according to an announcement by the group. Tom Gruber, head of advanced development of Siri at Apple, will serve on the board. 

• "We’re glad to see the industry engaging on some of the larger opportunities and concerns created with the advance of machine learning and AI," Gruber said in a statement. "We believe it’s beneficial to Apple, our customers, and the industry to play an active role in its development and look forward to collaborating with the group to help drive discussion on how to advance AI while protecting the privacy and security of consumers."

• The group also announced its inaugural Board of Trustees, which includes a combination of corporate and not-for-profit members. 

Dive Insight:

The Partnership on AI was formed in September and includes members such as Amazon, Facebook, Google/DeepMind, IBM and Microsoft. The group seeks to have a range of input from companies that may otherwise act as rivals, as it seeks to further the public’s understanding of AI.

"We are committed to having balanced representation at the leadership, executive, and operations levels," according to the group’s announcement.

Apple, Microsoft and Google have some of the biggest troves of data, which is key to AI success, so they are in a great position to move AI forward and help advance industry standards.