Apple reportedly negotiating with OpenAI to power iOS 18 features

Some reports last month revealed that Apple was in talks with Google to use Gemini to power new AI features coming to iOS 18. Earlier this year, 9to5Mac also reported that Apple had been running internal tests with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Now a Bloomberg report claims that Apple has resumed negotiations with OpenAI for a potential partnership.

Apple might use OpenAI’s ChatGPT to power new iOS 18 features

According to today’s report, the company has “renewed discussions with OpenAI” about using its technologies to power at least some of the new AI features coming to the iPhone and iPad later this year. Sources familiar with the matter say that Apple wants to integrate OpenAI’s tools into iOS 18.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman claims that negotiations are centered on using OpenAI’s technologies to power an AI-based chatbot in iOS 18. It’s unclear whether this chatbot is intended to replace Siri or whether Apple will introduce it as a brand new virtual assistant. 9to5Mac previously found references to a new iOS “SiriSummarization” framework that integrates with ChatGPT.

At the same time, it seems that Apple is still having discussions with Google about using Gemini on iOS. The company is probably looking for the best deal in terms of costs. The New York Times corroborated these negotiations last month. Apple is also rumored to be negotiating with Baidu for users in China, since Google has no operations there.

The company is expected to introduce many features based on generative AI with iOS 18 and other software updates to be announced in June at WWDC 2024. Apple has also been developing its own language models that can run offline. However, these models are more limited, so having online alternatives would be ideal for providing more accurate results.

We recently speculated on how Apple might combine both online and offline models and perhaps even put some of the AI-based features under a paywall.