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.
OpenAI believes Apple deliberately hobbled ChatGPT's integration within the iPhone, as Apple bemoans the daylight robbery of its talent by OpenAI
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 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 for 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.
About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover. When I'm not writing, I'm traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.
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