That's why Apple is negotiating with Google and OpenAI
Bloomberg notes that Apple's own generative artificial intelligence technology is lagging behind competitors. Apple employees have been testing their own chatbot called Apple GPT, and the company also has its own large language model code-named Ajax, but Apple's artificial intelligence technology was less advanced than its competitors.
This is why Apple is in «active negotiations» with Google to bring Gemini generative AI technology to iPhone, as we reported earlier this week, and is also considering using OpenAI's ChatGPT.
CEO Tim Cook has already confirmed that Apple is spending «a huge amount of time and effort» on artificial intelligence features and plans to introduce them to its customers «later this year». The Bloomberg article suggests that AI features built into Apple products could eventually be based on a combination of first-party and third-party AI models. Apple's models could bring on-device AI generation with iOS 18 coming later this year, and cloud-based AI features like text and image generation could come through partnerships with companies like Google.
If the Google deal is signed, Apple won't be the first company to turn to the search giant to provide artificial intelligence features on its phones. Earlier this year, Samsung added a number of Galaxy AI-branded features powered by Google's artificial intelligence technology to its Galaxy S24 smartphones. Google's AI is also widely used on its own Pixel 8 devices.
The iPhone maker previously struck an agreement with Google to make Google Search the default on its devices. The agreement is valued at $18 billion a year. But such deals have become increasingly controversial with regulators, with the US Department of Justice accusing Google of using them to unfairly bolster its search engine's market position.
Potential AI deal between Apple and Google could expand the reach of Google's AI tools by 2 billion iPhones.
Bloomberg notes that such a deal is unlikely to be announced before WWDC in June.