WWDC 2024 saw Apple announce a partnership with OpenAI, bringing the ChatGPT chatbot to iOS 18 as part of Apple Intelligence. Apple confirmed other chatbots were on the way, with software boss Crag Federighi teasing that Google Gemini could be on the way. And it turns out that could happen fairly soon.
This news comes from Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, who claims that Apple could announce deals with both Google and Anthropic this fall — around the time Apple Intelligence will officially launch. However, Gurman didn’t go into much detail, and instead focused on how Apple isn’t partnering with Meta.
Gurman claims that Apple isn’t interested in embedding Meta’s AI services into Apple Intelligence — at least right now. Reports claimed that the two companies were in discussion, only for talks to fall through. Gurman claims that Apple only had a “brief conversation at Meta’s behest."
It appears that conversation didn’t evolve into anything more formal, with Apple having zero interest in Meta’s product. Apple reportedly believes that OpenAI, Anthropic and Google all offer “superior services”. Gurman also points out an Apple/Meta deal would “run counter to Apple’s criticism of Meta for its privacy practices”.
We’ve been hearing rumors that Google Gemini could come to Apple Intelligence for some time now. But we’ve heard no specifics of what that sort of integration may involve, or how it might compare to ChatGPT support. Even if the integration of different chatbots are more or less identical, it at least gives users the choice to use a different AI service if they prefer.
It also makes sense that Apple wouldn’t want to lock down users to one particular service. For starters, there are rumors that Apple is developing its own AI chatbot behind the scenes, even if it’s not ready yet. And regulators would likely scrutinize Apple for not offering multiple chatbot options.
We’re likely to find out for sure later this year. iOS 18 should be released right around the same time as the iPhone 16 launch. So stay tuned to our Apple September Event hub for all the latest news and rumors.
