Apple is facing its toughest fight since the 1980s

Apple has done pretty well for itself these last few years. It's got cash in the bank, healthy revenue, and it still sets the bar for what a modern smartphone should look like. But while the iPhone is singularly important, both to Apple and to the category of devices it's inspired over the last decade, technology companies are now jockeying to usher in the next wave of personal computing. The consensus is artificial intelligence is going to be the key differentiator, with every device--whether its a lightbulb or a laptop--capable of speaking to each other and making decisions to suit their owners. Big tech firms like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft are saying that they're now "AI-first companies." Artificial intelligence research and implementation is dominated by Google.