Rumors of Apple collaborating with Google have been doing rounds since we first heard about the ChatGPT integration into iOS 18.
Right after the WWDC 2024, Apple’s senior vice president, Craig Federighi, confirmed that the company wants to add more third-party AI models to Apple Intelligence.
While Federighi mentioned Google Gemini as one of the possible integrations, he wasn’t specific about when it would happen. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple has been in touch with Google and Anthropic, and “the former to be announced around the time Apple Intelligence launches this fall.”
He also did not rule out the possibility of an Apple Anthropic collaboration. Earlier, Apple reportedly had talks with Meta to integrate its Llama AI models; however, the deal didn’t go through.
Gurman confirmed that the two companies did have brief conversations, but “Apple has zero interest in embedding Meta’s service,” he claimed. Apple feels Gemini and Anthropic are way more powerful than Meta’s models.
Moreover, collaborating with Meta contradicted Apple’s general stand towards user data privacy. It would “run counter to Apple’s criticism of Meta for its privacy practices,” Gurman added.
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The two companies with opposite takes on user privacy coming together was an impossible scenario. This is why the early conversations didn’t evolve into formal discussions.
For those unaware, Apple will let third-party AI chatbots handle specific user queries based on user permission. So far, Apple has already got OpenAI’s ChatGPT on board to infuse AI-super powers into its operating system.
The company doesn’t want to rely on a single service provider and is thus looking to get either Google, Anthropic, Perplexity, or all of them on board. This will give Apple customers more choice and variance in algorithms.
That said, Apple is also developing its in-house generative AI systems, and these third-party AI services may serve as a stop-gap solution.
