A year ago, it sometimes seemed like AI had spread everywhere in some way, but it was just a preview of how AI burst into people's lives, for better or worse.
It would take a whole series of books to cover every transformative update, splashy release, and embarrassing misstep made by the biggest AI brands—OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Apple Intelligence—let alone every AI developer.
Still, there are some key aspects worth remembering before 2025 alters the landscape again.
ChatGPT's endless updates
It's hard to talk about AI in 2024 without putting ChatGPT at the center. OpenAI seemed determined to stay in the spotlight, releasing one revolutionary update after another.
In May, the introduction of GPT-4o, followed by the more efficient GPT-4o, began the multimodal evolution of ChatGPT in the management of text, images, audio and video. The December launch of the o1 model brought a new level of reasoning, with sharper, more insightful answers. Proving to be an invaluable tool for everything from coding challenges to creative brainstorming.
ChatGPT's advanced voice mode brought new vocal interactions to ChatGPT with a variety of realistic voices, including Santa. If you weren't talking through the app, OpenAI even set up the toll-free 1-800-CHATGPT hotline to call and interact with ChatGPT.
Filmmakers spent most of the year anxiously awaiting the arrival of Sora, OpenAI's text-to-video model. While it recently became available to non-professional filmmakers, Sora's ability to make animated videos is now accessible to creative minds or marketers on a deadline.
Creative collaboration was also the argument for ChatGPT's Canvas mode, which allows real-time collaboration with AI, editing and refining projects in parallel. To keep things organized, OpenAI also launched Projects, a feature that grouped conversations and files into neat folders. And the expanded ChatGPT search feature helps keep all that information up-to-date and accurate.
To top it all off, OpenAI wrapped up the year with its “12 Days of OpenAI” holiday event, rolling out daily updates like WhatsApp integration, a new $200/month ChatGPT Pro tier, and a sneak peek of the upcoming O3 model for the chatbot. That likely helped distract from the hours-long outage in December caused by a failure at Microsoft's data center. The breadth of the outrage may not have been great PR, but it certainly highlighted how much ChatGPT has spread since 2024 began.
The Gemini leap on Google
Google Gemini didn't even exist when 2024 ended. It wasn't until February that Bard became Gemini, and that rebrand was part of Google's year-long effort to surpass OpenAI by integrating AI into everything it does. A shiny new Gemini app for Android and a Gemini Advanced subscription tier immediately kicked off the competition with ChatGPT, and updates soon followed.
In May, Google had released Gemini 1.5, an updated version with more processing power and an expanded context window, making it smarter and better at understanding complex queries. But the real magic began over the summer when Gemini intelligence arrived on Google Home devices and replaced Google Assistant in more places.
That culminated in September with Gemini Live, a feature that lets you have real-time voice conversations with AI. The ChatGPT competition continued with custom chatbots called Gems, and a month later an iPhone app arrived, complete with integrations with other Google apps on iOS.
The grand finale came in December with the release of Gemini 2.0, a massive update that features better, faster responses, photo analysis, and more. Not to mention, many features exclusive to Google Pixel phones further connect to the rest of the Google ecosystem.
Apple's intelligence finally matures
Rumors about Apple's plans for AI had circulated for years, but in 2024 Apple Intelligence finally debuted. The initiative felt inevitable and unique to Apple at its WWDC presentation in June.
The design was definitely Apple, but there was notable integration with existing AI models. In particular, Apple will allow its renewed Siri voice assistant to rely on ChatGPT for answers and various queries. We're also still waiting for Siri's promised ability to see, understand, and perform tasks within apps.
Even with different branding, Apple's AI tools seemed primarily intended to match or surpass the features available from OpenAI and Google. For example, Apple Intelligence powers the Image Playground image creator, as well as Genmoji, which lets you design your own emojis.
The most distinctive aspect is probably how Apple Intelligence primarily uses Apple hardware to run AI processes locally or on its ultra-secure Private Cloud Compute servers. That way, Apple Intelligence can work faster and promise more privacy.
While OpenAI, Google, and Apple dominated the headlines, AI had a much broader impact thanks to other big brands. Meta, for example, introduced the Meta AI virtual assistant, integrating it into Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, updating and expanding its capabilities (including some celebrity voices) throughout the year. Meta also prepared to make next year the year of AI smart glasses by incorporating Meta AI into the Meta Quest headphones as well as the Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses. Oh, and who could forget the presentation of the Orion augmented reality glasses prototype?
However, not all pieces of AI hardware performed so well this year. The hype around products like the Rabbit R1, a small AI-focused device, and wearables like the Humane AI Pin and Plaud NotePin were high when the year began, but they've all faded quickly since then and it's possible They only succeed as very niche products.
If the year 2024 proved anything, it is that artificial intelligence has officially surpassed its shiny new technological phase and has burst into our lives as a full-fledged revolution. ChatGPT, Gemini, Apple Intelligence, and their competitors demonstrated how AI tools can dazzle and even be really useful when used the right way.
That doesn't mean that 2025 won't be without its mistakes and missteps, but it certainly suggests that it will become a standard part of many digital activities on some level, whether that's trying to have a game night with friends, entertaining, or educating. children, or organize our diets and cooking plans. This year demonstrated what AI can do; Next year, the question will be: what capabilities do we really want AI to do for us?
