OpenAI takes on Apple

TL;DR: OpenAI is picking a fight—hiring an outside law firm to prepare “possible legal action” against Apple over the companies’ ChatGPT-Siri integration, Bloomberg reported Thursday. OpenAI hoped the partnership would turn hordes of iPhone users into paid ChatGPT subscribers, but that hasn’t happened. The tension reflects a recurring question in Big Tech: What does relying on Apple’s platform for growth get you, anyway?

What happened: OpenAI’s lawyers could send Apple a breach of contract notice without escalating to a lawsuit. No decision has been made, and it’s unlikely to make a move until it’s done with another high-profile legal fight: the Musk vs. Altman trial.

When the deal launched in 2024, no money changed hands; Apple’s pitch was distributing ChatGPT to hundreds of millions of iPhone users whom OpenAI could then convert to subscribers—with Apple getting a cut of subscription revenue it generated.

Nobody’s happy: OpenAI thinks the integration is buried and that Apple never adequately promoted the integration. It’s also disappointed that the billions in subscription revenue it anticipated hasn’t materialized. “We have done everything from a product perspective,” an unnamed OpenAI exec told Bloomberg. “They have not, and worse, they haven’t even made an honest effort.”

OpenAI has also run into Apple’s notorious secrecy culture. Apple reportedly wouldn’t give OpenAI execs details on the integration and said the startup “needs to take a leap of faith and trust us,” per Bloomberg’s source. Questions around what, exactly, Apple promised could be central to any legal case.

The hurt feelings appear to be mutual: Apple has concerns about OpenAI’s user privacy standards, is peeved about its $6.5 billion acquisition of Jony Ive’s hardware startup io—which aims to compete with Apple on devices—and is reportedly also upset about OpenAI poaching dozens of engineers.

OpenAI’s headaches are building ahead of its IPO, from the Musk trial to Anthropic’s growth and questions around CEO Sam Altman’s honesty. Does it really need to pick a legal fight with a tech heavyweight right now?

Apple’s house, Apple’s rules: OpenAI isn’t alone in feeling burned by Apple, which famously swapped out Google Maps, a flagship iPhone feature, in 2012 and then apologized. The EU also fined Apple $2 billion over antitrust allegations involving music streaming competitors like Spotify.

But it’s Apple’s world, and the rest of the tech industry is living in it. Apple is expected to unveil iOS 27’s new Extensions system in June, giving OpenAI’s competitors access to Apple Intelligence. And, in yet another bad sign for OpenAI, Apple inked a $1 billion-per-year deal with Google for Gemini to power Siri.

Bottom line: Apple owns our screens, giving it control over how partners’ products are featured. OpenAI is just the latest company to learn this lesson the hard way. —JG

Also at OpenAI…

• Here’s what comes next in the Musk vs. Altman trial, which heard closing arguments yesterday.
• Codex is now in the ChatGPT mobile app on iOS and Android.
• If you use ChatGPT on Mac, you will be forced to update your app after hackers got access to some of OpenAI’s systems.