Oliver Haslam on June 13, 2024, 10:20 pm

Apple Is Reportedly Not Paying OpenAI To Bring ChatGPT To iOS 18

Apple’s WWDC opening keynote earlier this week confirmed that OpenAI’s ChatGPT technology will be used optionally alongside Apple Intelligence features coming to the iPhone with iOS 18 later this year.

Rumors had already suggested that talks to make that happen were underway months ago, but we didn’t know how much Apple was paying to make the deal happen. Now, we know.

According to a new report by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple isn’t actually paying anything to put ChatGPT on the iPhone and bake it into Siri. Instead, Apple and OpenAI seem to have struck a partnership that will see the two companies make money further down the line, possibly as some sort of subscription payment deal.

The arrangement includes weaving ChatGPT, a digital assistant that responds in plain terms to information requests, into Apple’s Siri and new writing tools. Apple isn’t paying OpenAI as part of the partnership, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the deal terms are private. Instead, Apple believes pushing OpenAI’s brand and technology to hundreds of millions of its devices is of equal or greater value than monetary payments, these people said.

Siri will use ChatGPT when its own AI cannot provide the best answer although users will always be asked for their permission before any of that happens.

Apple is currently testing iOS 18 with developers and a public beta is expected next month. However, the final release won’t be made available to the public until this coming fall, likely in September.