By Michael Scott
Apple ended the long-rumored partnership with Sam Altman-led OpenAI by announcing the integration of ChatGPT to Siri on Monday, June 10. The tech giant revealed during the ongoing annual WWDC conference that its 13-year-old Siri would integrate ChatGPT, reiterating that the artificial intelligence (AI) features will prioritize privacy and security.
Apple Inc. ended the long-rumored alliance with OpenAI by indicating that ChatGPT would become an integral element of the Apple Intelligence upgrades. The tech giant confirmed it is onboarding the AI upgrades to the iOS 18, MacOS 18, and macOS Sequoia.
OpenAI’s ChatGPT Integration with Apple Devices
The announcement confirming Apple tapping OpenAI portrays the largest overhaul the iPhone maker did to the digital assistant since Siri’s unveiling in 2011.
The integration will enable Apple device users to utilize OpenAI’s toolset, including the newly unveiled ChatGPT-40 model. Nonetheless, Siri will seek permission from the users.
During the Monday presentation, Apple’s Craid Federighi indicated that Siri would leverage the support by tapping into ChatGPT’s expertise to benefit the user. The senior vice president heading software engineering indicated that one can now access ChatGPT without account creation and submit requests without signing up.
Federighi informed the ChatGPT subscribers of the capability to connect their accounts and still access the paid features within Apple’s experiences.
The speculation of Apple harboring ambitions in generative AI surfaced since last month’s iPad Event. The rumors accelerated and fuelled the stock rally in the countdown to the WWDC of the OpenAI partnership.
The anticipated unveiling of Apple-OpenAI integration propelled the Apple Inc. stock to nearly test its all-time high price to exchange hands at $195 in the early Monday, June 10 trading.
Apple to Encrypt AI Features and Use Private Clouding
OpenAI chief Sam Altman hailed the partnership with Apple as a channel to bring ChatGPT to the users. He added in a subsequent announcement that Apple shares OpenAI’s devotion to safety and innovation, with the partnership aligning with the mission to provide advanced AI to everyone.
Apple indicated that the AI integrations will be unveiled later and featured on the iPhone 15 and subsequent models that utilize the proprietary processor chips.
Federighi indicated that Apple portrays a new approach to adding AI into its systems, mainly targeting image generation, editing, text summarization, audio transcription, and writing assistance via apps. The executive acknowledged the generation of personalized emoji and video features.
Federighi disclosed that Apple will utilize private cloud computing to upgrade AI features. The models will run on the company’s servers created via Apple silicon to ensure the privacy and security of the devices. As such, they will tap the security properties integrated within the Swift programming language and transparency-based software.
Federighi clarified that the AI features will have an encryption setup to guarantee the devices will not talk to servers unless the software is inspected to log in. The additional requirements constitute a new standard to ensure privacy and only permit trusted intelligence.
Musk Opposes Apple AI Move to Onboard OpenAI ChatGPT
While Apple has recently rolled out steps towards supporting AI development on the existing hardware, it appears relatively late to embrace generative AI openly. Despite releasing the open-source AI models, it trails Microsoft, Amazon, and Google, which have already unveiled diverse AI-powered products.
The new AI announcements have witnessed a cold reception. The unveiling of the Recall feature by Microsoft to allow users to find all computer activities via indexing snapshots met widespread backlash that prompted reversing the course.
Tesla chief Elon Musk threatened to ban the Apple devices from his entities, citing security vulnerabilities in OpenAI. He indicated that the ban would extend to all individuals, including guests, as the devices will be stored in a Faraday cage.
Apple chief Tim Cook hailed Apple Intelligence as a thoughtful yet indispensable part of the company’s products, which presently have an integral input in individuals’ lives.
Wall Street appears impressed with the announcements as Apple stock has rallied 7% to $207.15. Further, MarketWatch data shows the AAPL is 6.39% up in the past six months, signaling an optimistic market reception.
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