Apple Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams was speaking at top chip manufacturer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s 30th anniversary celebration in Taipei, which was attended by global tech executives.

“We think that the frameworks that we have got, the ‘neural engines’ we have put in the phone, in the watch... we do view that as a huge piece of the future, we believe these frameworks will allow developers to create apps that will do more and more in this space, so we think the phone is a major platform,” Williams said.

Williams said technological innovations, especially involving the cloud and on-device processing, will improve life without sacrificing privacy or security.

“I think we’re at an inflection point, with on-device computing, coupled with the potential of Artificial intelligence (AI), to really change the world,” he said.

He said AI could be used to change the way health care is delivered, an industry he sees as “ripe” for change.

Williams said Apple’s 2ss of artificial intelligence wouldn’t be just limited to mobile phones.

“Some pieces will be done in data centres, some will be on the device, but we are already doing AI in the broader sense of the word, not the ‘machines thinking for themselves’ version of AI,” he said referring to the work of Nvidia, a leader in AI.

Global tech firms such as Facebook, Alphabet, Amazon, and China’s Huawei are spending heavily to develop and offer AI-powered services and products in search of new growth drivers.

Softbank Group Corp, which has significantly invested in artificial intelligence, plans a second Vision Fund that could be about $200 billion in size, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.