Apple & OpenAI relationship thankfully in hot water
OpenAI's Sam Altman once considered Elon Musk a worthy business partner, and that's all I ever needed to know about the individual. Well, that and his double-popped collar polo shirt ensemble he wore on stage at an Apple event in 2008.
My opinion somehow only worsened in recent years as OpenAI hyperbolically declared AI as the simultaneous end and savior of humanity. Altman was a snake oil salesman that knew about the ailments of the world and could sell you their cures.
OpenAI even tried to play the nonprofit game at first, then quickly shifted to a for-profit model. Shortly after, they hopped on government contracts that Anthropic felt it couldn't morally accept.
On top of those sins, OpenAI was primary in convincing money-hungry CEOs that they could fire humans and replace them with ChatGPT. Not only is this wrong, nearly every company that did so regretted it and lost bundles of money.
Yep, a lovely company.
However, like Google and others before it, the actions of the company and its founders did little to push people away. ChatGPT is by far and away the most popular AI tool, which is why Apple chose to partner with them in 2024.
Thankfully, Apple worked out a contract that forced OpenAI to not retain or train on any user data or prompts. It was nestled as a subprogram for Siri and Apple Intelligence that users had to specifically invoke. Paying users could get more, but only so much, and never the best.
This partnership was likely made on the idea that the more proactive Apple Intelligence that never released would boost AI use on iPhone. More AI use would mean more ChatGPT use, which would lead to more subscribers.
That never came to pass, and now OpenAI might sue Apple. It's a dumb and clearly frantic move from the flailing company. Even as its opponents close in with improving models and better monetization strategies, OpenAI is running out of runway.
It doesn't seem like much of a coincidence that we hear about a potential lawsuit just days separated from an OpenAI smartphone rumor.
The company is clearly in trouble. Contracts are being renegotiated, definitions of success changed, and money-sucking features closed. However, if OpenAI doesn't find a profit center soon, it could be bankrupt or sold off in a matter of years.
I'm happy that the relationship between Apple and OpenAI could soon fall apart and become much more transactional. ChatGPT as an app on iPhone that users choose to install instead of being a feature toggle in Settings.
In spite of all of the yelling and screaming that Apple was behind in AI, it is set to come out on top starting this summer. WWDC 2026 will reveal its new Apple Foundation Models trained by Gemini – not ChatGPT.
The Apple OS 27 cycle will have APIs for calling out to third-party models, and none will be prioritized over the other. Private, secure, and all backed by Apple Foundation Models. As it should be.
If a lawsuit takes place, it is yet another of the horns of the AI apocalypse. The Googlebook with AI in the cursor, the dissolution of Sora, and the redefinition of AGI and removal of it from contracts with Microsoft are other examples.
This AI bubble is deflating faster by the day. I can't wait until we can treat it like just another aspect of iOS instead of the savior or end of humanity.