Apple said to have restarted discussion for OpenAI integration into iOS 18

AppleInsider

A report suggests that Apple is still looking across the spectrum of AI providers for iOS 18, with OpenAi again in conversations with the iPhone maker.

There's not a lot to Friday's report from Bloomberg that hasn't already been discussed. The key point from it, is that discussions have started again, or are perhaps continuing with OpenAI for potential inclusion in iOS 18, somehow.

Previous rumors made it clear that Apple had discussions with OpenAI. Friday's report says that the technology could make it to iOS 18 in the form of a chatbot. Whether this is to supplement or replace Siri, isn't clear.

If the report is accurate, OpenAI is not the only generative tech that Apple is considering integrating. Rumors suggest Apple is in talks with Google to provide iOS 18 users access to Gemini, somehow.

A different but related rumor suggests Apple is working to offer an AI App Store. Customers could go to the App Store to pay for access to premium AI features like Gemini search or other Google-provided AI tools.

All of these rumors may be separate, but they seem to be related to Apple's overall strategy. The company is clearly planning to offer smaller on-device models while outsourcing LLMs to bigger existing companies like Google.

As with any of these rumors surrounding Apple's AI plans, it's best to take them with a grain of salt. Apple hired AI and search maven John Giannandrea six years ago. And, that hiring was after eight years at Google developing machine learning for the search engine giant.

It seems improbable that the high-powered executive's efforts will lead to Apple licensing a competing technology, and not delivering any of its own. The company has, in fact, delivered much to the AI research community over the last several years, with the most recent being a series of models designed to be run on-device instead of in a server farm.

Apple will reveal its AI strategy during WWDC on June 10.



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VictorMortimer

It better be able to be disabled if they do that.

Echoplex_SE

No thanks, not interested in that at all

nubus

Musk sent Apple into 10 years of "we must also do a car", and the fear of Zuckerberg convinced Cook that Apple had to copy Meta and do a headset.
Now Apple is in full panic due to generative AI. What a mess.

mikethemartian

Given that WWDC is only six weeks away wouldn’t they have sorted all this out by now?

Massiveattack87

So.. It is true that Apple is way behind in AI race.

According to Bloomberg, Apple will highlight WWDC based on their own in-house model. OpenAI and Gemini are for a chatbot and search. 

Having said that, Apple´s own model is only limited to app tasks incl. processing photos, calendars, and some to-do lists while OpenAI  and Gemini handle everything else. 

If it shall be true, Apple does not offer any "breakthrough" features. What a rotten clown... 

Honestly.. What has John Giannandrea done at Apple up to now? 
Based on rumors, he has done nothing remarkable. 

Poor rotten Apple. 

P.S.: Anyway... How does it play with the privacy?? 

AppleAlways

John Giannandrea worked on Apple Pencil

mattinoz

I'm convinced Apple isn't integrating these service as required functions but as an upsell.

They'll could create a standardise set out of outlets Developers can rely on in app that use the On-device AI model in the first instance but can offload anonomyised calls to a paid cloud service if the client decides to pay extra. Once you pay of one it'll work in all your apps that make use of AI and across all devices. Set and forget style, hoping you'l forget and everyone gets recurring revenue. 

9secondkox2

So long as it’s not a cop-out from Apple to not use its own homegrown AI. 

preferably they make Siri the end-all, be all AI assistant. 

I don’t want OpenAI on my phone. Trust them about as much as I trust Google. But it’s great to have the option for those who want to use their apps. 

But for most iPhone customers, give us the Apple version of generative ai. The easy to use, comes with the system, private, secure, and reliable, ethical ai. 

Eliminate the need for a third party. The competitors will always be there for anyone who wants them. 

9secondkox2

nubus said:

Musk sent Apple into 10 years of "we must also do a car", and the fear of Zuckerberg convinced Cook that Apple had to copy Meta and do a headset.
Now Apple is in full panic due to generative AI. What a mess.

It’s rather popcorn-worthy. The Apple car project was a fiasco. The vision pro is a research project that escaped from the lab way before due date. And the generative ai thing is so “Wild West” right now. All Apple needed to do was upgrade Siri to be reliable and easier to work with - and add generative ai to Siri. Boom. Done. 

But no. Somehow, someway, the Apple that always said no a thousand times to get that just right yes is running around like a chicken with its head cut off. 

There’s this thing. It really helps to streamline what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and ensures successful execution. It’s called FOCUS. Apple would do well to recapture that. 

I always thought Apple has a difficult job. They have to please the long-standing customers who want the rock solid Apple experience, but they also have to show investors that they aren’t missing any trends and are not falling behind competitors. I think a great solution would be for Apple to have a sub brand that offers stuff like vision pro and things that aren’t quite sure fire “Apple” status yet, but would be a resounding success from a competitor. Beats could work. You always expect Beats stuff to be a step below the Apple branded products anyway. And when Apple is confident they’ve nailed the formula, launch the Apple version. Best of both worlds. 

elijahg

nubus said:

Musk sent Apple into 10 years of "we must also do a car", and the fear of Zuckerberg convinced Cook that Apple had to copy Meta and do a headset.
Now Apple is in full panic due to generative AI. What a mess.

Unfortunately this is what happens when you have a conservative, stale beancounter leading rather than a visionary. Apple had 10 years headstart with AI in Siri, but it's been nigh-on abandoned since it was introduced, apart from adding the odd extra command you have to say in exactly the right way. People actually really liked Siri's sass back when it was new, there was even a website dedicated to screenshots of its sass. Apple used to be fun. But apparently Cook is too dull to allow fun, so Siri's sass has been removed - about the only thing that's noticeably changed - Siri is boring as well as crap now. Remember "what should I do with a dead body"? 

Since Apple seems to be able to focus on only one product at a time, they need to refocus on the things that matter, and stop wasting time on things like the car, headset and AppleTV+. They need to release new versions of phones like the SE every year rather than every 4, so people who can't afford the latest flagship don't feel like they are just an afterthought. All the far eastern manufacturers manage it, granted barely anything changes, but the phone is still the latest generation. What's happened to the iPad? Is that abandoned now too? I'm happy they've unabandoned the Mac; the newest Macs (apart from the lack of 27" iMac) are the best there have ever been. But since they apparently have a limited number of plates they can keep in the air, they need to get better at spinning more, or have less plates to spin.

jellyapple

I already have paid AI subscription and why would I pay double for the same service from Apple? Don’t tell me that I have no choice. 

Stabitha_Christie

jellyapple said:

I already have paid AI subscription and why would I pay double for the same service from Apple? Don’t tell me that I have no choice. 

You could always choose to not make thing up to be outraged  about. 

Stabitha_Christie

9secondkox2 said:

So long as it’s not a cop-out from Apple to not use its own homegrown AI. 

preferably they make Siri the end-all, be all AI assistant. 

I don’t want OpenAI on my phone. Trust them about as much as I trust Google. But it’s great to have the option for those who want to use their apps. 

But for most iPhone customers, give us the Apple version of generative ai. The easy to use, comes with the system, private, secure, and reliable, ethical ai. 

Eliminate the need for a third party. The competitors will always be there for anyone who wants them. 

Apple already uses its own generative AI in its products. 

It is always funny to watch people go all chicken little while knowing absolutely nothing about what they are upset about.