Say What?!! Yes, there fellow readers, Apple has decided not to invest in OpenAI. This news comes two months after the public announcement of their partnership via Apple WWDC 2024 on the date of June 10th, 2024. Let’s dive into what suddenly changed in the section below.
Apple and OpenAI announced a partnership
In the initial announcement, Apple and Open AI revealed their plans for their partnership. These plans covered many topics in their collaboration. One is the integration of ChatGPT with MacOS, IOS and iPadOS. This allows users to access ChatGPT’s capabilities—including image and document understanding—without needing to jump between tools.
Two, Siri can tap into Apple Intelligence. Before sending any papers, images, or inquiries to ChatGPT, Apple users are prompted, and Siri then provides a direct response.
Three, content and image generation for Apple. With ChatGPT, users will be able to create content for any topic they choose to write about through Apple's system-wide writing tools. To create visuals that go well with their content, users can also utilize ChatGPT's image capabilities.
Three, their privacy protections are built in when accessing ChatGPT within Siri and Writing Tools. Users’ IP addresses are hidden, and OpenAI does not store requests. Additionally, users have the option to connect their ChatGPT account, in which case ChatGPT's policies will apply and their data preferences will be enforced.
Lastly, The ChatGPT integration, powered by GPT-4o, will come to iOS, iPadOS, and macOS later this year. It is available to users without the need to create an account for free, and ChatGPT subscribers can link their accounts to enjoy premium features directly from these encounters.
Apple decides not to invest in OpenAI
According to a recent Wall Street Journal article from September 27th, 2024, Apple has decided not to invest in OpenAI. This is happening just as OpenAI prepares to conclude a $6.5 billion fundraising round that might see contributions from Nvidia and Microsoft next week.
Apple was first reported to be discussing an OpenAI investment last month. It was never clear; however, how much Apple might’ve invested in the company. The news of Apple’s decision to pass on investing in OpenAI comes amid more leadership and structural changes at the company. Former Apple design chief Jony Ive also recently confirmed that he is working with OpenAI to design an AI hardware product.
Despite dropping OpenAI as an investment partner, Apple still plans to team up with them to integrate ChatGPT into IOS18 this year. As a result of this collaboration, ChatGPT and Siri will address queries about the world. According to Bloomberg, neither Apple nor OpenAI are receiving any payment from the other as a result of their collaboration. Rather, it has been claimed by Apple that the exposure that OpenAI is receiving from the iOS 18 integration is "of equal or greater value" than money.