Apple's two-year partnership with OpenAI has become strained, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday. The artificial intelligence startup failed to reap the expected benefits from its partnership with Apple and is now considering legal action.
Sources said that OpenAI originally hoped to resolve its differences with Apple without resorting to legal means, but its legal team has teamed up with external law firms to study multiple response options. Options include sending a letter to Apple alleging breach of contract but not filing a formal lawsuit. The news also confirmed Bloomberg’s previous reports on OpenAI’s internal consultations.
Apple did not respond to a request for comment.
In 2024, Apple announced that it would fully implement its self-developed "Apple Intelligence" technology into its applications such as Siri, and integrate OpenAI's chat robot ChatGPT into the device.
The cooperation between the two parties allows users to call the ChatGPT service through Siri, and iPhone users can also activate ChatGPT membership subscriptions directly in the iOS settings interface.
The report pointed out that OpenAI originally expected that this cooperation would significantly increase ChatGPT subscriptions and achieve deep integration with Apple's entire range of applications. However, the cooperative relationship between the two parties has deteriorated, and OpenAI's attempts to restart and renegotiate the cooperation agreement have stalled.
Media reports this month said that Apple will soon allow users to choose multiple third-party AI models, and OpenAI may lose its exclusive cooperation status within the Apple ecosystem.
The report also stated that Apple is advancing the testing of two major AI models, Anthropic’s Claude and Google Gemini.
People familiar with the matter confirmed that Apple’s introduction of other AI partners was not an inducement for OpenAI to consider taking legal action this time, because the cooperation between the two parties was not exclusive from the beginning.
Google Gemini is expected to provide technical support for Apple’s newly upgraded Siri this year. Apple's annual software developers conference is scheduled to be held in June, when it is expected to announce more details of its artificial intelligence strategy.