Once again unleashing its capacities in the digital market where the fight for artificial intelligence supremacy rages, Apple Inc has surprised everyone by joining forces – in an unusual tech alliance – with OpenAI. The two companies will work to improve and enhance the user experience of Apple devices, from iPhones to Macs. The mirror goes both ways: there are aspects to this transaction that would never be possible today without the experience of being exposed in the networked market place The money metaphor remains largely irrelevant to understanding the meaning of the networked market place moments.
That joint venture comes with the striking revelation that Apple has cajoled OpenAI into working together – for free. Apple can afford that ambition – and renders it without cost – because the introduction of technology designed by OpenAI onto hundreds of millions of Apple’s users provides Apple with a measure of ‘good will’ and engagement that will, in the long term, make up for the foregone earnings.
Image credit: AppleThe integration of OpenAI’s GPT-4o model into the newest versions of Apple’s operating systems (iOS 18, iPad-shows 18, macOS Sequoia) is a major step forward. One can easily envision integrated AI features in Apple’s new CarPlay to assist the driver; services enhanced by ChatGPT such as Siri – Apple’s digital assistant – coming up with ideas for a restaurant menu, writing an article summary, and conducting web-image searches based on descriptive inputs; and Apple’s entire suite of writing tools leveraging ChatGPT’s ability to suggest, rewrite and check text. This is a glimpse into the future of interactive, assistive technology.
Although most of the functionality of ChatGPT will be free to all users, people who pay for a ChatGPT Plus subscription will get extra functionality and will spend more time in ChatGPT than they would otherwise. And Apple will get a commission on all Plus subscriptions purchased through any of the company’s devices. Apple has multiple reasons to expect that these subscriptions will be lucrative. The first is that Apple products also provide a great experience for ChatGPT – through all the convenient ways people have for issuing searches (head movement, keyboard, knuckle tap, etc). The second is that the OpenAI service, customised to an Apple device, is a monetisable advantage. Finally, these subscriptions, if they are lucrative, will be a new revenue stream for Apple consistent with the company’s stated strategic shift to monetise its ‘differentiated AI’.
This collaboration with OpenAI is only the beginning of Apple’s new monetisation efforts around AI. Because the revenue-sharing deals stipulate that Apple has to divide revenues with its partners, it could soon reap the rewards of monetisation for AI-bots with a personality. The fact that many users prefer AI to search engines bodes well for Apple, which could diversify its earnings beyond its lucrative but ageing search agreement with Google. In this way, Apple is looking to stay ahead of the curve and continually improve the user experience of its devices.
Now, though, thanks to the ongoing integration of OpenAIs’ tech, Apple isn’t standing still. Recently, it was reported that Apple is in talks with Google about adding OpenAI to Gemini, and is in talks with Anthropic about bringing Claude to iOS users. These moves show a clear desire to expand the AI ecosystem that Apple is creating for its users, and to give them a suite of powerful, cutting-edge AI utilities and services.
The Apple venture with OpenAI a portent of a new type of collaboration in which the marketplace is less about economic exchange and more about strategic exposure and mutual flourishing. Rather than simply paying for the use of OpenAI’s technology, Apple is borrowing it. Its use of the system styles a world in which every element we interact with in our online lives uses AI to enhance experience, inform choice and fuel utility. The partnership signals another step on Apple’s journey into this new, empowering frontier, and we can expect its users to glimpse, in the coming months and years, a flood of new features and utilities as Apple finds itself pushed into this brave new digital world.
Photo by emily kozelek/Unsplash Apple Inc, the high-tech giant renowned for its innovations in technology, quality, ease of use and design, was founded in 1976 and began with a garage-startup dream. Since then, it has become a global phenomenon, pushing the leading edge of technology further and further forward. It is likely that everyone will have heard of Apple’s iconic products, such as the iPhone, iPad and Mac. However, Apple has been as successful in software and services – developing iOS and macOS, the operating systems behind it IT infrastructure, the App Store, and so on. The partnership with OpenAI is another step forward for Apple in pushing the innovation envelope, cementing its reputation as a leader in high-tech and, ultimately, in artificial intelligence.
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