OpenAI explores legal action against Apple as ChatGPT integration falls short of expectations

OpenAI feels "burned" by Apple's crappy ChatGPT integration, insiders say

OpenAI is reportedly exploring legal options after Apple's ChatGPT integration into its products didn't live up to the AI firm's expectations. When the deal was announced, Apple likened features linking Siri to ChatGPT to its now-infamous deal embedding Google search in the Safari browser, insiders granted anonymity to discuss the "strained" partnership told Bloomberg. And the promise of that excited OpenAI, which expected the deal "could generate billions of dollars per year in subscriptions," an OpenAI executive granted anonymity to discuss the partnership told Bloomberg. Instead, OpenAI suspects Apple intentionally failed to promote the integration and fears that the deal may have damaged the ChatGPT brand, sources said. Specifically, OpenAI hates how Apple designed the integration, sources said. Particularly bad was the choice forcing Apple users summoning Siri to also "specifically invoke the word 'ChatGPT' when speaking or typing a command," sources said. That makes it harder for users to access the features, OpenAI apparently feels. And Apple's other choices, like using small windows providing limited information when responding with ChatGPT outputs, seems to ensure that users can easily ignore the features, sources said. As the OpenAI executive explained, Apple didn't fully explain how the integration would work when the deal came together, so OpenAI took a "leap of faith" it now appears to regret. "When we heard about this opportunity, it sounded amazing: being able to acquire a giant number of customers and have distribution in such a big mobile ecosystem," the executive said, attempting to explain why OpenAI was willing to enter the arrangement blind. Since then, efforts to renegotiate the deal have "stalled," Reuters reported. And, supposedly due to feeling "burned," OpenAI has declined to enter other partnerships to work on Apple's AI models, Bloomberg reported. According to the insiders, OpenAI is so disappointed in Apple's work that the AI firm is now "actively working with an outside legal firm on a range of options that could be formally executed in the near future." "We have done everything from a product perspective," the OpenAI executive summed up OpenAI's frustrations to Bloomberg. "They have not, and worse, they haven't even made an honest effort." Supposedly, OpenAI is still hoping to resolve its issues with Apple outside of court, if possible. But one option that OpenAI may pursue could be accusing Apple of a breach of contract. Going that route wouldn't necessarily require filing a lawsuit right away, sources suggested. Apple and OpenAI did not respond to Ars' request to comment. Musk may expose how deal was done Most likely, OpenAI will delay approaching Apple until after its court battle with Elon Musk concludes, Bloomberg reported. A decision in that litigation is potentially coming next week. OpenAI also faces a court battle with Musk over its Apple deal. However, it may be inconvenient for Musk that tensions between OpenAI and Apple have grown since he filed a lawsuit last August. Musk alleged that the deal integrating ChatGPT into Apple products violated antitrust and unfair competition laws, supposedly propping up OpenAI to dominate the chatbot market and Apple the smartphone market. So far, Musk's lawsuit has survived motions to dismiss, though the judge has yet to comment on its merits. That leaves Apple and OpenAI potentially stuck defending the deal at a trial scheduled for October, even if it falls apart. However, the partnership's end may make it harder for Musk to uphold his claims of a conspiracy in his lawsuit. Due to Musk's fury that his chatbot Grok has never been featured as a "Must Have" app in Apple's App Store, the lawsuit alleged that Apple and OpenAI struck a deal as part of a giant conspiracy to lock out rivals developing chatbots that Musk claimed Apple fears could make smartphones obsolete. As Musk's theory goes, Apple was so afraid of Musk's plan to turn X into an "everything app" that it partnered with OpenAI to supercharge ChatGPT as a market leader and constrain X's innovation. Increasingly problematic for Musk, the looming fallout between OpenAI and Apple suggests their allegiance is not that deep. Bloomberg's sources suggested that Apple was happy to partner with OpenAI as its own AI projects failed to launch but over time became less inclined to boost ChatGPT after learning about OpenAI's plans to make its own device that could rival the iPhone. Reuters suggested that Apple was so "rankled" by OpenAI teaming up with its former star designer Jony Ive that it lost motivation to help supercharge ChatGPT as OpenAI expected. For Musk, it may become impossible to argue that OpenAI and Apple are colluding to keep Apple at the top of the smartphone market when OpenAI is working on its own device. And his arguments about ChatGPT's supposed "exclusivity" are also falling apart, as Apple is now testing Siri integrations with Anthropic's Claude and Google Gemini. OpenAI's executive insisted to Bloomberg that OpenAI's potential legal action has nothing to do with Apple expanding its AI partners, emphasizing that the deal was never intended to be exclusive. With tensions high, Apple and OpenAI would probably prefer to keep details about how the deal came together secret. However, although Musk's lawsuit may be losing steam, it has recently succeeded in forcing Apple and OpenAI to be more transparent about the deal. This week, magistrate judge Hal Ray Jr. denied Musk's request to see Tim Cook's internal messages discussing the deal but ordered Apple to share documents by mid-June from Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi. Federighi "made high-level, strategic decisions about the Apple-OpenAI Agreement," the judge noted, and "may have unique relevant evidence not already produced relating to Apple's integration of OpenAI into Apple Intelligence." Apple will also have to provide any "documents that refer to potential exclusivity clauses of the artificial intelligence provider for Apple products," as Musk tries to keep his antitrust fight alive. It's possible that OpenAI and Apple will make up before Musk's lawsuit heads to trial this fall. In June, Apple is expected to unveil a revamped Siri that could better promote ChatGPT in ways that resolve at least some of OpenAI's concerns, Bloomberg reported. OpenAI maintains that Musk is distorting antitrust law as part of a "harassment campaign" attacking OpenAI to slow down its work, so that Musk's xAI can catch up. Apple argued that a Musk win would devastate the tech industry by setting an alarming precedent that any deal with a supplier violates antitrust law if other proposals are rejected. Perhaps most damning for Musk's case, both OpenAI and Apple have urged the court to agree that Musk cannot show harm since none of his firms make smartphones.

OpenAI is reportedly preparing legal action against Apple; it wouldn't be the first partner to feel burned | TechCrunch

OpenAI is so frustrated with Apple over a ChatGPT integration that failed to deliver the subscribers and prominence it expected that the company is now actively exploring legal action against the iPhone maker, Bloomberg News reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. According to Bloomberg, OpenAI has enlisted an outside law firm to work through its options, which could include sending Apple a formal breach-of-contract notice without necessarily escalating to a full lawsuit (at least not immediately). Any legal move would likely wait until after the conclusion of OpenAI's ongoing trial with Elon Musk. Still, it's a reminder of what a difficult partner Apple can be for major software companies. The iPhone is an enormously attractive platform for growth, but it's fully under Apple's control -- and companies that build there are only guests. From Google to Adobe, there's a long history of Apple showing guests the door when they seem as if they're getting too comfortable. TechCrunch has reached out to both OpenAI and Apple for comment. The OpenAI partnership, announced at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in June 2024, wove ChatGPT into Apple's operating systems as an option within Siri and as part of the iPhone's Visual Intelligence feature (allowing users to use their camera to analyze their surrounds and send photos to ChatGPT with related questions). OpenAI, along with industry watchers, expected the deal might eventually funnel billions of dollars in new subscriptions its way and give the company prime real estate across one of the world's most-used mobile ecosystems. Instead, Bloomberg reports, OpenAI has grown increasingly aggravated, complaining that the integration has been buried, its features hard to find, and that revenue from the tie-up is nowhere close to projections. "They basically said, 'OpenAI needs to take a leap of faith and trust us,'" one OpenAI executive told Bloomberg. "It didn't work out well." Apple, for its part, has its own grievances, including concerns about OpenAI's privacy standards and, according to Bloomberg, irritation over OpenAI's push into hardware, an effort led by former Apple executives including ex-design chief Jony Ive. Either way, OpenAI is hardly the first partner of Apple to regret hitching its wagon to the company. Apple has a long history of embracing partners and then alienating them. The most famous case is Google Maps, which was a flagship feature of the original iPhone. It was so central to the device's appeal that its removal in 2012 -- replaced by Apple's markedly inferior Apple Maps product -- became one of the biggest tech fiascos of the decade, prompting a rare public apology from CEO Tim Cook. The friction between the two companies had been building for years at that point, thanks to the rollout of Google's Android phone a year after the iPhone's 2007 debut; after Google's then-CEO Eric Schmidt stepped down from Apple's board in 2009, that rivalry only intensified. Adobe has some scar tissue, too. Steve Jobs refused to support Flash on the iPhone and iPad, publishing a famous open letter in 2010 explaining why and effectively dooming the technology. Flash never recovered its footing on mobile. Then there's Spotify, which spent years arguing that Apple leveraged its control over the App Store to disadvantage rival music streaming services after launching Apple Music in 2015. The European Commission agreed, fining Apple nearly €1.8 billion in March 2024. Sometimes these rifts can be overcome in the name of commercial interests. Google is now Apple's AI infrastructure partner, having struck a multiyear deal in January to power the next generation of Apple Intelligence with Gemini models. Apple is paying Google roughly $1 billion a year. In the meantime, OpenAI has had its own share of strained relationships lately. Elon Musk's lawsuit against the company -- which accuses OpenAI of abandoning its nonprofit founding mission and operating in bad faith -- is currently at trial. The company has also reportedly navigated tensions with Microsoft, its biggest backer and infrastructure partner, as it pushes for greater independence ahead of its own IPO ambitions.

OpenAI explores legal options against Apple, source says

May 14 (Reuters) - Apple's (AAPL.O), opens new tab two-year-old partnership with OpenAI has become strained, with the AI startup failing to see the expected benefits from its deal with the iPhone maker and preparing possible legal action, a person familiar with the matter said on Thursday. OpenAI wanted to resolve its issues with Apple without resorting to legal action, but its lawyers are actively working with an outside legal firm on a range of options, the source said. The options include notifying Apple of a breach of ⁠contract but not filing a full lawsuit, the source said, confirming a Bloomberg News report on OpenAI's internal deliberations. Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In 2024, Apple announced integration of its "Apple Intelligence" technology across its apps including Siri and bringing OpenAI's chatbot ChatGPT to its devices. Their partnership allows users to access ChatGPT results through Siri, while iPhone users can also sign up for ChatGPT memberships directly from the iOS settings menu. OpenAI believed that the deal would boost ChatGPT subscriptions and lead to deeper integration across ⁠Apple apps, but the relationship has deteriorated, the report said, adding that OpenAI's attempts at renegotiating the deal have stalled. Bloomberg News reported this month that Apple will allow users to select from third-party AI models and OpenAI could lose its unique role within Apple's software. Apple is ⁠testing integrations with both Anthropic's Claude and Google Gemini as part of this push, the report said. Apple's embrace of other AI providers is not driving the company's legal action, the source confirmed, ⁠because the partnership was not meant to be exclusive from the start. Google's Gemini is expected to power Apple's revamped Siri coming this year. Apple is scheduled to ⁠hold its annual software developer conference in June, where it is expected to reveal more details about its AI plans. Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco and Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar, Maju Samuel and David Gregorio Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

OpenAI considering legal action against Apple over iPhone AI deal

OpenAI is exploring legal action against Apple over their deal to integrate ChatGPT into the iPhone, underlining the bitter competition between leading AI groups to access the iPhone-maker's massive consumer base. The start-up was considering its legal options over what it sees as a lack of progress by Apple over enacting its 2024 agreement, according to people familiar with the matter. OpenAI was concerned about a "pattern of behaviour from Apple . . . showing no interest in investing required resources to deliver on the promise of the partnership", one of the people said. "They are focused solely on extracting a tax for their market position," they added. Bloomberg first reported OpenAI's legal threat. Apple has stayed on the sidelines as its Big Tech peers pour hundreds of billions of dollars into bets on AI models and infrastructure, instead striking deals to serve up third-party models to more than 1bn iPhone users. The tension between Apple and OpenAI comes after the hardware giant earlier this year partnered with Google to use its Gemini AI models to power "Apple Intelligence", its suite of AI features. The announcement was widely viewed as a rebuke of OpenAI, which was the first AI company to partner with Apple. The OpenAI partnership allowed Apple users to access results from ChatGPT when submitting queries to Siri and integrated the AI chatbot into Apple's writing tools. OpenAI is frustrated that Apple has not done more to integrate and promote its AI tools for iPhone users. Apple is expected to announce updates with its new operating system later this year that will allow users to plug into a variety of third-party AI models. OpenAI has meanwhile poached talent from Apple's AI team. The AI start-up also hired Apple's former design chief Jony Ive to work on a new device, which could become a competitor to the iPhone. The threat comes as the ChatGPT maker faces a jury verdict as soon as this week in a case brought by Elon Musk over its transformation into a for-profit company. OpenAI and Apple declined to comment.

Apple's ChatGPT deal might be getting messy just as Gemini moves in

The report comes as Apple is also turning to Gemini to help power Siri. If you've ever jumped headlong into a relationship that didn't turn out to be all you hoped it would, the latest developments in the Apple-OpenAI partnership might sound familiar. The AI revolution pushed Big Tech into some very fast courtships, and Apple's ChatGPT deal may be turning into one of the messier ones. What once looked like an easy win for both sides reportedly hasn't delivered the huge upside OpenAI expected, and the company is now weighing legal options against Apple.

OpenAI preparing legal action against Apple as ChatGPT-Siri partnership unravels

OpenAI's partnership with Apple, announced to considerable fanfare in June 2024, is fracturing. The AI company's lawyers are actively working with an outside legal firm on options that could include sending Apple a formal notice alleging breach of contract, according to Bloomberg, which cited people familiar with the deliberations. No lawsuit has been filed, and OpenAI says it still hopes to resolve the dispute without going to court. But the company has concluded that Apple failed to hold up its end of a deal that was supposed to turn ChatGPT into a default feature of the world's most valuable consumer ecosystem. The core grievance is distribution. OpenAI believed that weaving ChatGPT into Siri, Writing Tools, and Image Playground would drive a significant number of iPhone users toward paid subscriptions - potentially generating billions of dollars per year, according to people familiar with the company's expectations. Instead, Apple's implementation buried the integration behind friction. Users must explicitly invoke the word "ChatGPT" when speaking to Siri to trigger OpenAI's models. Responses appear in constrained windows with limited information. Apple customers overwhelmingly prefer using the standalone ChatGPT app, according to user studies conducted by OpenAI. The deal, struck when Apple was scrambling to catch up on generative AI, gave iPhone users the ability to access ChatGPT results through Siri, generate text, analyse images via Visual Intelligence, and create pictures in Image Playground. Apple took a cut of subscription revenue generated through its platforms. OpenAI got what it believed would be prime placement inside an ecosystem of more than a billion active devices. That placement never materialised in the way OpenAI expected. An executive at the company, speaking to Bloomberg on condition of anonymity, said Apple had not made an honest effort to promote the integration. OpenAI now believes the implementation has actively damaged its brand, with the limited, windowed responses creating an impression of inferior capability compared with the full ChatGPT experience. During initial discussions in 2024, Apple characterised the opportunity as comparable to its search deal with Google in Safari - a partnership that generates tens of billions of dollars annually for both sides. That comparison has proved spectacularly inapt. The same executive said OpenAI had been told to take a leap of faith, and that the leap had not paid off. The rift with Apple is not happening in isolation. OpenAI is simultaneously fighting a federal trial with Elon Musk over its nonprofit-to-profit conversion, with potential damages of $150 billion. It recently renegotiated its exclusive deal with Microsoft, capping revenue-sharing payments at $38 billion through 2030 and shifting to a non-exclusive licensing model that allows OpenAI to serve customers on any cloud provider. Amazon, meanwhile, has deepened its investment in Anthropic with an additional $5 billion. Apple has its own list of grievances. The company has been concerned about OpenAI's privacy practices. And OpenAI's $6.5 billion acquisition of io, the device startup co-founded by former Apple design chief Jony Ive, has created a direct competitive threat. The business, now run by former Apple executives Tang Tan and Evans Hankey, is working to build an alternative to the iPhone. Apple executives have been, as Bloomberg put it, fuming over OpenAI's recruitment of Apple hardware engineers, with the AI company offering stock packages worth millions more than Apple provides. Any legal action by OpenAI is unlikely before the conclusion of the Musk trial, according to Bloomberg's sources. The timing suggests OpenAI is managing its legal exposure carefully, avoiding a second front while the first remains unresolved. The partnership's deterioration is happening as Apple prepares to diminish OpenAI's role in its software. iOS 27, expected to be unveiled at the Worldwide Developers Conference on 8 June, will introduce a system called Extensions that allows users to install rival AI chatbots from the App Store and route Siri queries, writing tasks, and image generation through whichever model they choose. Apple is testing integrations with both Anthropic's Claude and Google's Gemini. Separately, Apple struck a deal late last year to use Google's Gemini models as the foundation for its own AI capabilities, paying roughly $1 billion annually for a custom 1.2-trillion-parameter model that will power the next generation of Siri. OpenAI was considered for this deeper integration but declined to participate, feeling burned by the original relationship. The OpenAI executive told Bloomberg that Apple's embrace of other providers is not driving the legal dispute, since the partnership was never meant to be exclusive. The new Extensions system might even benefit ChatGPT by giving it more prominent placement through a model-picker interface. But the broader trajectory is clear: Apple is building an AI architecture designed to reduce its dependence on any single provider, and OpenAI is moving from privileged partner to one option among several. Apple's AI strategy has been defined by a series of forced compromises. The company marketed AI features for the iPhone 16 that were not ready, leading to a $250 million class-action settlement over false advertising. It partnered with OpenAI because its own models were inadequate, then found the partnership unsatisfying. It turned to Google for the underlying intelligence that its in-house team could not deliver. At each stage, the company that built its reputation on vertical integration has been forced to depend on others for the capability its customers expect. For OpenAI, the Apple experience is a lesson in the limits of distribution without control. Being inside the iPhone sounded like a growth engine. In practice, it meant accepting Apple's design choices, Apple's revenue terms, and Apple's willingness - or unwillingness - to promote the product. The company that believed it was getting a Safari-scale partnership got something closer to a buried settings toggle. Whether the dispute escalates into litigation or resolves through renegotiation, the strategic picture has already shifted. OpenAI is building hardware. Apple is building its own AI stack. The deal that once symbolised their mutual need now illustrates why the two largest ambitions in consumer technology - owning the device and owning the intelligence may be fundamentally incompatible as long-term partnerships.

OpenAI Falls Behind and Looks to Blame Apple

Apple has made it clear that it plans on opening up its AI relationships. OpenAI isn't taking it well. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the partnership between the two companies has become strained lately, and OpenAI is looking at its legal optionsâ€"as if the company hasn't spent enough time in court lately. Whether there's a case for OpenAI to pursue is an open question, but it is pretty clear from the report that the company has found Apple to be a pretty cold partner. Per Bloomberg, OpenAI expected ChatGPT to be more deeply ingrained in the iOS ecosystem and feature prominently on the mobile platform so that iPhone users would know they were using ChatGPT. That just never really came to fruition. It's understandable why OpenAI would want that. When the two first signed an agreement back in 2024, ChatGPT was the only AI model to integrate into Apple Intelligence, including serving as the brains of a supposedly smarter Siri voice assistant. But Apple has had nothing but trouble actually making its AI features work, so it might have saved OpenAI some trouble by not associating ChatGPT with broken tools. Apple also hasn't exactly been thrilled with how things have gone with OpenAI. Per Bloomberg, the company apparently had real doubts that it could trust OpenAI to protect user privacy. It also reportedly didn't take super kindly to OpenAI announcing plans for its own device, which seems like it will just be a competing smartphoneâ€"but, hey, a smartphone from iPhone designer Jony Ive. It'd be understandable if Apple would just like OpenAI to get some of its own ideas. The simmering resentment between the two has apparently stalled out negotiations to re-up the agreement. Apple seems like it's decided to move on from exclusivity entirely and reportedly plans to open Apple Intelligence to any AI model that wants to participateâ€"including OpenAI rivals like Google and Anthropic. That doesn't leave OpenAI with much other than being a face in the crowd, which isn't going to drive subscriptions the way that it expected. It seems unlikely that OpenAI would pull out of the iOS ecosystem as retribution, simply because there are too many users there to leave on the table. It does seem like the company may opt to take some legal action against Apple, but even that might be more of a symbolic gesture than anything meaningful. Bloomberg suggested the company may send Apple a notice alleging that it is in breach of its contract without actually filing a lawsuit. You can probably bet that one ends up in the shred pile.

OpenAI preparing 'legal action' against Apple over Siri partnership: report - 9to5Mac

Apple and OpenAI inked a deal to integrate ChatGPT with Siri as part of iOS 18 in 2024. According to a new report today, however, OpenAI is displeased with how the partnership has played out and is considering taking legal action against Apple. According to Bloomberg, OpenAI lawyers are working with an outside legal firm "on a range of options that could be formally executed in the near future." One possible outcome is that OpenAI sends Apple a notice "alleging breach of contract without necessarily filing a full lawsuit at the outset." The report says: "OpenAI believed that the companies' partnership, which wove ChatGPT into Apple software, would coax more users into subscribing to the chatbot. It also expected deeper integration across more Apple apps and prime placement within the Siri assistant." An unnamed OpenAI executive, quoted by Bloomberg, alleges that the company has "done everything from a product perspective," while Apple has not held up its end of the deal. "We have done everything from a product perspective," the executive said. "They have not, and worse, they haven't even made an honest effort." One aspect of the OpenAI integration into iOS is the ability to sign up for a paid ChatGPT subscription via the Settings app on iPhone. OpenAI reportedly believed this "could generate billions of dollars per year in subscriptions," which apparently "hasn't come close to happening." "When we heard about this opportunity, it sounded amazing: being able to acquire a giant number of customers and have distribution in such a big mobile ecosystem," said the OpenAI executive. At the time, though, Apple was unwilling to share exactly what the product would be, the person said. "They basically said, 'OpenAI needs to take a leap of faith and trust us,'" the executive said, adding that the deal ended up being a failure for the startup. OpenAI's displeasure comes ahead of WWDC, where Apple is expected to announce a next-generation version of Siri powered by Google Gemini. iOS 27 will also reportedly let users integrate with other AI models, including Anthropic's Claude. Apple opening the iPhone up to other AI models "isn't driving the company's legal action since the partnership wasn't meant to be exclusive from the start," according to the unnamed OpenAI executive. OpenAI wasn't interested in working with Apple on the new models because it felt burned by the initial relationship, according to the people. "Apple has so much market power that they can dictate terms," the executive said. "We already took this leap of faith with you, and it didn't work out well." Meanwhile, OpenAI is also developing its own hardware products and has poached many Apple engineers to work on the devices. Additionally, that effort is being led by former Apple design chief Jony Ive. Apple executives "have been fuming for more than a year" over OpenAI's recruiting tactics. "No final decisions have been made, and OpenAI still hopes to resolve its issues with Apple outside of court," the report says.

OpenAI may sue Apple over ChatGPT integration

Is Apple's partnership with OpenAI about to fall apart? According to both Bloomberg's Apple insider Mark Gurman and a new report in the New York Times, AI giant OpenAI is currently considering suing Apple over the companies' agreement to integrate ChatGPT into some Apple Intelligence AI features. Apple recently reached a $250 million settlement in a class action suit over its failure to deliver on its AI promises. (Apple hasn't admitted to any wrongdoing.) Now, OpenAI may serve Apple with a breach of contract notice, the Times reports. Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Vote for your favorite creator today! In 2024, OpenAI and Apple surprised the industry by partnering together on Apple's upcoming AI features known as Apple Intelligence. OpenAI's ChatGPT was expected to be prominently featured in Apple products, such as the iPhone and MacBook, powering Apple Intelligence. In addition, OpenAI appeared to be a key technology behind Apple's relaunch of its voice assistant Siri as an AI assistant. According to the reports, however, OpenAI is unhappy with how the now two-year-old partnership has panned out so far. The fallout appears to stem from how Apple integrated ChatGPT into its products. OpenAI reportedly expected that the partnership would encourage Apple users to subscribe to ChatGPT. Instead, OpenAI found that ChatGPT is difficult for users to even find within Apple Intelligence. On top of that, in January, Apple confirmed that it had struck a deal with Google to use Gemini to power Apple Intelligence, including Apple's long-awaited AI relaunch of its voice assistant Siri. All of these issues have led OpenAI to consider taking legal action against Apple, claiming breach of contract. We'll see if OpenAI actually follows through with a suit against Apple, or if the company is trying to renegotiate its agreement. The AI company is currently awaiting the jury's decision regarding its own future following a trial stemming from the lawsuit Elon Musk filed against ChatGPT creator Sam Altman.

'They haven't even made an honest effort': OpenAI could sue Apple over its fractious Siri partnership -- here's what it might mean for you

* OpenAI is reportedly unhappy with its AI partnership with Apple * That could lead to it suing Apple, Bloomberg claims * Apple is also allegedly dissatisfied with OpenAI Apple's attempts to fix Siri with outside AI help may be hitting serious trouble. According to a new Bloomberg report, OpenAI is growing increasingly frustrated with its partnership with Apple, to the point that the company is now reportedly considering legal action. Bloomberg claims the relationship has become so "strained" that OpenAI believes it is no longer getting the benefits it expected from integrating ChatGPT into Apple Intelligence features. Over the last couple years, Apple has teamed up with other tech firms to boost its Apple Intelligence system while it tries to get its artificial intelligence (AI) platform in tip-top shape. That includes getting Google's Gemini to power some of its more advanced features and tying OpenAI's ChatGPT into tools like visual intelligence. But now, the partnership with OpenAI could be on the ropes. "OpenAI lawyers are actively working with an outside legal firm on a range of options that could be formally executed in the near future," Bloomberg explains. The two companies might not end up duking it out in the courtroom, though, and OpenAI may instead decide to send Apple "a notice alleging breach of contract without necessarily filing a full lawsuit at the outset." Why is OpenAI upset at the current state of affairs? The company apparently expected that the collaboration with Apple would "coax more users into subscribing to the chatbot," Bloomberg says, while it also "expected deeper integration across more Apple apps and prime placement within the Siri assistant." That hasn't happened. Instead, ChatGPT is limited to a few areas of iOS and must often be specifically invoked using the word "ChatGPT," making it less obvious to users that the chatbot is available. According to Bloomberg, that's left OpenAI frustrated and seeking some sort of remedy. Whether or not this dispute goes to trial, it could have implications for Apple fans if the two sides cannot resolve their differences. Apple might increasingly start preferring different chatbots over ChatGPT, for instance, or it could even remove OpenAI's tool from iPhones entirely if the collaboration falls apart. That would mean a very different AI experience on the iPhone if it comes to pass. An unhappy ending? It appears that this is a two-way street, though, and Bloomberg alleges that Apple has its own reasons to complain about the deal. Specifically, the company is reportedly concerned about whether OpenAI is truly committed to user privacy -- a key interest for Apple -- and is "rankled" by its move into hardware, particularly since those plans involve former Apple design chief Jony Ive and other important workers poached from Apple. The Bloomberg report quotes an unnamed OpenAI executive who states that "We have done everything from a product perspective." Apple, they argue, has failed to mirror this commitment. Worse, they claim that people at Apple "haven't even made an honest effort." In explaining the background to the deal, the executive said: "When we heard about this opportunity, it sounded amazing: being able to acquire a giant number of customers and have distribution in such a big mobile ecosystem." Yet Apple wouldn't disclose exactly what the project was, simply saying "OpenAI needs to take a leap of faith and trust us," according to the OpenAI exec. One key element missing from Bloomberg's article, though, is what OpenAI's legal basis actually is. Has Apple breached its contract with the AI startup? If so, which components of the agreement has it fallen foul of? None of that has been disclosed. All we know from the report is that Apple's plans to open up iOS to other AI chatbots -- including Anthropic's Claude and Google's Gemini -- isn't the root cause, as the partnership with Apple "wasn't meant to be exclusive from the start." But what is evident is that both sides feel sour about the deal, if Bloomberg's reporting is accurate. Whether it escalates to a trial -- and what comes of that if so -- is unknown, but it looks increasingly possible that this relationship is heading for an unhappy ending. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.

OpenAI reportedly mulls taking Apple to court over ChatGPT's Siri integration - SiliconANGLE

OpenAI reportedly mulls taking Apple to court over ChatGPT's Siri integration OpenAI Group PBC has reportedly become so upset with Apple Inc. over its poor handling of the ChatGPT-Siri integration that it's now exploring legal action against the company. A report by Bloomberg today said the company is dismayed that the partnership failed to acquire the new subscribers it hoped to gain, and has resorted to hiring an independent legal firm to explore its options. According to unnamed people familiar with the matter, the company could slap Apple with a lawsuit, or it could send the company a formal breach-of-contract notice without going to the courts immediately. The two companies first announced their partnership amid great fanfare in 2024, saying they will integrate ChatGPT with Apple's Siri digital assistant in the iOS 18 platform. OpenAI believed that the integration, which embedded ChatGPT into Apple's software ecosystem, would result in the chatbot gaining a significant number of new subscribers. It also hoped for "deeper integration across more Apple apps and prime placement within the Siri assistant." Bloomberg quoted an anonymous OpenAI executive as saying that his company has "done everything from a product perspective," but Apple failed to hold up its end of the bargain. "They haven't even made an honest effort," he complained. The integration was supposed to coax users to sign up for a paid ChatGPT subscription via the iPhone's Settings app. OpenAI reportedly hoped this would generate "billions of dollars per year" in additional subscription revenue, but that "hasn't come close to happening." The OpenAI executive revealed that the company was led to believe it would be able to acquire a huge number of customers through the agreement, but wasn't told exactly how that would happen. "They basically said, 'OpenAI needs to take a leap of faith and trust us,'" the executive said, adding that the deal ended up being a failure for the startup. While no money changed hands as part of the deal, Apple is supposed to be getting a cut out of whatever new subscriptions OpenAI manages to sell through its ecosystem. The report comes just ahead of Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference, where the iPhone maker is expected to announce a revamped version of Siri that's powered by Google LLC's Gemini. The iOS 27 platform will also be upgraded, allowing users to integrate other AI models, including Anthropic PBC's chatbot Claude. The OpenAI executive said this is not the reason for the company's legal action, because the partnership was never supposed to be an exclusive one. There is tension on Apple's side too. OpenAI is reportedly working on the development of its own hardware products, and it has poached a number of the iPhone company's engineers to help build those devices. The effort is being led by former Apple design chief Jony Ive, who has brought many of his former colleagues along with him. Apple executives have reportedly been "fuming" over OpenAI's recruitment tactics. ChatGPT is currently integrated in various aspects of iOS. It acts as a fallback for Siri for world-knowledge queries and can also be found in the Image Playgrounds and Visual Intelligence applications. The executive told Bloomberg that the company has not yet made a final decision on whether to pursue legal action against Apple, and still hopes to resolve the issue out of court. OpenAI is certainly not the first company to fall out with Apple. The iPhone maker has a long history of upsetting and alienating former partners, with the most famous being Google itself. The company was once reliant on Google Maps, which was a flagship feature of the original iPhone device that launched in 2007, making it mobile for the first time. But Apple later became upset with Google when it introduced the Android smartphone operating system a year later and became its major rival in the then-nascent smartphone market. The rivalry intensified over the years, and Apple ultimately dropped Google Maps from the iPhone altogether, replacing it with an Apple Maps product that was so inferior that it was universally panned by iPhone users, forcing Chief Executive Tim Cook to make a rare public apology over its poor performance. Another company jilted by Apple was Spotify Inc., which became upset with the launch of the Apple Music app, a competitor to its own, in 2015. Spotify complained for years that Apple was leveraging its control over the App Store to disadvantage its own product. It finally won a moral victory in 2024 when the European Commission agreed with its complaint and slapped Apple with a €1.8 billion fine.

Apple-OpenAI Partnership Reportedly Over ChatGPT Integration

Apple is increasing rival AI partnerships, further straining ties Apple's partnership with OpenAI is said to be strained and facing growing tensions. According to a report, the ChatGPT maker is now weighing potential legal action against Apple over what it believes is a failure to adequately support and promote ChatGPT integration across iOS, iPadOS, and macOS.The partnership was first announced at WWDC 2024 and was initially believed to be a major step in bringing generative AI features to the iPhone ecosystem. OpenAI Reportedly Considering Legal Action Against Apple According to a report by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, OpenAI lawyers are currently working with an external legal firm to evaluate several possible actions against Apple. These include sending a formal notice alleging breach of contract. However, the AI firm has reportedly not made a final decision yet and still hopes to resolve the matter privately without escalating it into a full lawsuit. The disagreement is said to centre on OpenAI's dissatisfaction with how Apple implemented ChatGPT across its ecosystem. As per the report, OpenAI executives initially believed the partnership would significantly boost ChatGPT subscriptions and increase visibility for the platform through deeper integration into Siri and Apple apps. However, the integration remains relatively limited and difficult for many users to access. The report claims that Apple's implementation often requires users to specifically mention "ChatGPT" while interacting with Siri to invoke OpenAI responses. Further, responses appear in a smaller interface window and offer fewer capabilities than the standalone ChatGPT app. Gurman mentioned that OpenAI executives believe Apple has not promoted the integration aggressively enough across iPhone, iPad, and Mac. The report mentioned an anonymous OpenAI executive as stating that ChatGPT maker had done "everything from a product perspective," while Apple "haven't even made an honest effort." Further straining the relationship is believed to be Apple's increasing partnership with rival AI firms. The Cupertino-based tech giant has long been rumoured to be preparing broader AI integrations within iOS 27. These would allow users to select third-party AI models directly inside Siri. Apple and Google, notably, already announced a multi-year collaboration earlier this year, which would see Gemini and Google's cloud technology power the next generation of Apple Foundation Models. The report further notes that OpenAI's expanding ambitions in hardware have also created friction between the companies. The ChatGPT maker is working on an AI wearable, with former Apple Design chief Jony Ive spearheading the development. Apple, meanwhile, reportedly also had privacy concerns about ChatGPT even during the original 2024 negotiations. However, the company are said to have proceeded with the partnership due to the iPhone maker's in-house AI features still being in development at the time.

OpenAI Believes Apple Hasn't Made "An Honest Effort" To Integrate ChatGPT Within The iPhone, Even As Apple Fumes At Over 40 Engineers Poached By Sam Altman

OpenAI was the first entity to come to Apple's rescue when its own AI efforts stumbled in late 2024. While OpenAI's motives for doing so were by no means altruistic in nature, it asserts it entered into a partnership in good faith, and now believes it has been short-shrifted by Apple. This comes as the maker of iPhones nurses its own grievances against OpenAI for stealing its talent, setting the stage for another epic clash in the courts. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, OpenAI is extremely frustrated with the offhand manner in which Apple appears to have integrated ChatGPT within its iPhones. Specifically, OpenAI has taken umbrage with the fact that Apple has chosen to integrate ChatGPT in a manner that does not utilize its full capabilities, yielding "summarized results that are subpar to what is present in the ChatGPT App Store app." What's more, OpenAI is frustrated that, contrary to its expectations of billions of dollars in incremental revenue, ChatGPT's allegedly flawed integration within the iOS has yielded little financial return, especially as its internal data indicates that users overwhelmingly prefer the ChatGPT app over Apple's integrated implementations. Do note that little money actually changes hands between Apple and OpenAI under their current partnership, save a cut that Apple takes of each qualifying subscription to OpenAI's services. According to OpenAI, it held up its end of the bargain, while Apple did not. Critically, OpenAI believes Apple did not even make "an honest effort" to better integrate ChatGPT within its iOS. Consequently, OpenAI lawyers are now working with an external law firm to explore available options, including invoking a breach of contract to take Apple to court. This comes as Apple is all set to open up its ecosystem to third-party AI agents within iOS 27, and as it continues to work with Google's bespoke Gemini models to power the all-new chatbot-style Siri. For its part though, Apple is brimming with righteous fury against OpenAI for poaching its prized talent. As we've previously reported, OpenAI has poached over 40 Apple engineers in the past few months, including those belonging to its core design team. These poaching efforts seem to have accelerated ever since OpenAI acquired Jony Ive's io to work on an "iPhone killer" device.

OpenAI-Apple Relationship Deteriorates As OpenAI Prepares Legal Case - Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

OpenAI lawyers are working with an outside firm on options that could include a breach-of-contract notice, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. A full lawsuit is not the only option on the table. OpenAI Says Apple Did Not Deliver The startup believed the 2024 deal that wove ChatGPT into Siri and Apple's Writing Tools would funnel iPhone users into paid ChatGPT subscriptions. "We have done everything from a product perspective," an OpenAI executive told Bloomberg. "They have not, and worse, they haven't even made an honest effort." OpenAI initially believed the arrangement could generate billions of dollars per year in subscription revenue, according to the report. The startup now believes the Apple implementation has hurt OpenAI's brand. The tension extends beyond software. OpenAI last year acquired a hardware startup co-founded by former Apple design chief Jony Ive, and has poached Apple engineers with stock packages worth millions more than Apple offers. Polymarket Eyes The Ive Device The "What kind of product will OpenAI announce in 2026?" market has Earbuds/Headphones leading at 31%, Glasses at 27% and a Smartphone at 21%, on more than $258,000 in volume. Any of those categories would put OpenAI in direct hardware competition with an Apple product line. The Musk Trial Clock Any legal move likely will not come until after the conclusion of OpenAI's trial with Elon Musk, which entered closing arguments Thursday in Oakland with jury deliberations expected next week. Polymarket gives Musk a 34% chance of winning the case against Altman, on more than $389,000 in volume. A Musk win would tie up OpenAI's legal bandwidth and likely delay any move against Apple further. WWDC Sets The Stage Apple is separately paying Google roughly $1 billion annually for AI technology to power its underlying models. Apple is trading around $297, slightly off its all-time high set Wednesday. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Benzinga. Image: Shutterstock Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.

OpenAI explores legal options against Apple, Bloomberg News reports

May 14 (Reuters) - Apple's two-year-old partnership with OpenAI has become strained, with the AI startup failing to see the expected benefits from the deal and now preparing possible legal action, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday. OpenAI lawyers are actively working with an outside legal firm on a range of options, including potentially sending the iPhone maker a notice alleging breach of contract without necessarily filing a full lawsuit at the outset, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. Apple and OpenAI did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. Reuters could not independently verify the report. (Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)

OpenAI may sue Apple over how ChatGPT was integrated into iPhones: Here is what happened

OpenAI has reportedly hired an outside law firm to explore possible legal options. OpenAI is reportedly planning legal action against Apple over the way ChatGPT was integrated into iPhones and other Apple devices. According to Bloomberg, OpenAI is unhappy with how its AI chatbot has been placed inside Apple's ecosystem. The AI company reportedly expected the partnership to bring in a large number of new paid subscribers and give ChatGPT more visibility among iPhone users. However, things apparently did not go as planned. For those unaware, the partnership between Apple and OpenAI was first announced during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in June 2024. As part of the deal, ChatGPT became available inside Siri and Apple's Visual Intelligence feature. According to the report, OpenAI now believes these features are too hidden inside Apple's software and are not easy for users to discover. The report also says that revenue from the partnership has fallen far below expectations. Also read: OpenAI exec claims Elon Musk called him donkey during AGI safety argument, here is why "They basically said, 'OpenAI needs to take a leap of faith and trust us,'" one OpenAI executive told Bloomberg. "It didn't work out well." The report further claims that OpenAI has already hired an outside law firm to explore possible legal options. This could include sending Apple a formal breach-of-contract notice, though a full lawsuit may not happen immediately. Any legal action is expected to wait until OpenAI's ongoing court battle with Elon Musk is completed. Also read: Foxconn hit by cyberattack, hackers claim theft of Apple and Google data: Are you safe? Apple reportedly has concerns of its own. Bloomberg reports that the iPhone maker is worried about OpenAI's privacy standards and is also unhappy with the AI company's growing interest in hardware products. That hardware effort is being led by former Apple executives, including ex-design chief Jony Ive.