The partnership between OpenAI and Apple was one of the big promises of WWDC 2024: ChatGPT baked into Siri, Visual Intelligence, everywhere on the iPhone. Billions in new subscribers were supposed to follow. Two years later, reality looks very different — and OpenAI is reaching for legal tools.
What happened
According to Bloomberg, OpenAI has hired an outside law firm to explore legal options against Apple. A formal breach-of-contract notice is on the table, possibly even a lawsuit. The core issue: OpenAI says the ChatGPT integration in iOS is buried, hard to find, and revenue is nowhere near projections.
One OpenAI executive told Bloomberg that Apple essentially asked them to take a ‘leap of faith.’ It didn’t work out well.
Apple’s side
Apple apparently has its own complaints. Concerns about OpenAI’s privacy standards are part of the picture — and the fact that OpenAI is building its own hardware with former Apple executives, including Jony Ive, probably doesn’t sit well in Cupertino either.
Why this matters
This story follows a pattern that Apple partners know well: Google Maps got kicked off the iPhone in 2012, Adobe Flash was blocked, Spotify was disadvantaged in the App Store for years. If you build on Apple’s platform, you’re always just a guest.
For the AI industry, the signal is clear: the big platform deals of the last two years don’t automatically deliver what everyone hoped for. OpenAI is simultaneously tangling with Apple, with Musk (trial ongoing), and with Microsoft (tensions ahead of the IPO). That’s a lot of fronts for a company trying to change the world.
Also worth noting: Apple has since chosen Google as its AI infrastructure partner — Gemini models will power the next generation of Apple Intelligence. For roughly a billion dollars a year. So OpenAI wasn’t just disappointed — it was replaced.
Sources: Bloomberg, TechCrunch, 9to5Mac