Apple Partners with OpenAI to Unveil ‘Apple Intelligence’

Apple on Monday unveiled “Apple Intelligence,” a suite of new AI features for its popular devices, alongside a partnership with OpenAI, aiming to catch up to rivals in the rapidly advancing AI sector.

For months, Apple has faced pressure to demonstrate its AI strategy after Microsoft and Google launched numerous AI products in quick succession.

“This latest move will elevate the experience of Apple products to new heights,” said CEO Tim Cook, as he kicked off the annual Worldwide Developers Conference at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California.

To this end, Apple has partnered with OpenAI, the company that revolutionized generative AI in 2022 with the launch of ChatGPT. “We’re thrilled to be partnering with Apple to integrate ChatGPT into their devices later this year! You’ll really enjoy it,” tweeted OpenAI’s chief, Sam Altman.

Apple Intelligence will also be incorporated into the new iOS 18 operating system, unveiled at the week-long conference. Apple executives emphasized that privacy safeguards have been embedded in Apple Intelligence to enhance the Siri digital assistant and other products without compromising user data.

The main challenge for Apple has been integrating ChatGPT-style AI—known for its data-hungry nature—into its products while maintaining its commitment to user privacy and security, according to analysts.

“This system places powerful generative models at the core of your iPhone, iPad, and Mac,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering. “It leverages your personal context to provide the most helpful and relevant intelligence, while protecting your privacy at every step.”

However, Elon Musk, the tycoon behind Tesla and SpaceX, criticized the partnership, expressing concerns over data security and threatening to ban iPhones at his companies. “Apple has no idea what’s happening once they hand over your data to OpenAI. They’re selling you out,” Musk stated on social media. Musk is developing a rival to OpenAI, called xAI, and is currently suing the company he co-founded in 2015.

Apple Intelligence, which operates exclusively on the company’s in-house technology, will allow users to create custom emojis based on everyday language descriptions and generate brief summaries of emails. Siri will also receive an AI upgrade, appearing as a pulsating light on the edge of the home screen.

Launched over 12 years ago, Siri has been viewed as outdated compared to newer assistants like OpenAI’s GPT-4o. Last month, GPT-4o made headlines when actress Scarlett Johansson accused OpenAI of copying her voice for their assistant after she declined to collaborate. OpenAI has denied this and has suspended the use of the new voice in its products.

With the new partnership, users can choose to enhance Siri with ChatGPT for certain requests, Federighi said. “It feels like it’s Apple, but if it needs ChatGPT, it offers it to you,” explained Techsponential analyst Avi Greengart. “The implementation is what sets it apart.”

Unlike Apple’s exclusive tie-up with Google for search, the partnership with OpenAI is not exclusive. Apple announced plans to support other AI models in the future.

Having remained quiet on AI since the ChatGPT craze began, Apple finally succumbed to pressure as Wall Street pushed Microsoft past Apple as the world’s most valuable company by market cap, largely due to Microsoft’s enthusiastic adoption of AI.

Despite the announcements, Apple’s stock price dipped nearly two percent by the close of trading on Monday.