The partnership between OpenAI and Apple, which a few months ago was presented as one of the most important alliances in the era of artificial intelligence, now seems to be going through a serious crisis. According to information from Mark Gurman from Bloomberg, OpenAI is even considering legal action against Apple, after heated disagreements over the integration of ChatGPT into the iPhone ecosystem.
The two companies announced a high-profile partnership in 2024, which saw ChatGPT integrated into iOS, iPadOS, and macOS features, including Siri and Image Playground. Users could also enable or subscribe to the service directly from their Apple device, with the Cupertino company taking a cut of subscription revenue.
However, behind the public presentations, it appears that the collaboration did not unfold as OpenAI had expected.
The expectations that were not fulfilled
According to the report, OpenAI believed that the deal with Apple would be one of the most important sources of growth for ChatGPT, with potential annual revenue of billions of dollars from subscriptions from iPhone users.
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Apple had reportedly pitched the partnership as an opportunity similar to its massive commercial deal with Google for the Safari search engine . In practice, however, the results appear to have disappointed OpenAI, which believes that ChatGPT never achieved the visibility and functionality that Apple had promised.
Company executives claim that the chatbot remains “hidden” within the operating system, without any meaningful promotion to users. Furthermore, access to ChatGPT via Siri is considered limited and less functional than the regular application.
For example, users must explicitly mention the word “ChatGPT” when giving commands to Siri to activate the service, while the responses displayed via the voice assistant include significantly less information than those provided by the full OpenAI application.
Apple's culture of secrecy creates tensions
Another point of friction appears to have been Apple's approach to product development. The company is known for its strict culture of secrecy , even towards its closest collaborators.
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According to an anonymous OpenAI executive, Apple did not provide a clear picture of exactly how ChatGPT would be integrated into the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. As the article specifically states, OpenAI was essentially asked to “trust” Apple without having full knowledge of the implementation strategy.
This situation appears to have created internal discontent within OpenAI, with executives now describing the deal as a “failure.” The company believes that from a technical perspective it delivered everything that had been agreed upon, but Apple did not proceed with the necessary support and commercial exploitation of the collaboration.
OpenAI: Even legal action on the table
Efforts to renegotiate the deal appear to have stalled, leading OpenAI to consider more aggressive options. According to the information, the company is considering sending a formal letter to Apple, claiming that the terms of the contract between them have been violated.
At present, there appears to be no decision on a full-blown legal battle, as OpenAI is still seeking an out-of-court settlement. However, the mere fact that legal action is being considered shows how strained relations between the two sides have become.
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iOS 27 and the new war of AI assistants
At the same time, Apple is reportedly planning major changes in iOS 27, opening up Siri more to third-party AI chatbots like Google’s Gemini and Anthropic’s Claude. While this theoretically increases competition for ChatGPT, the report says OpenAI doesn’t see non-exclusivity as a core issue.
On the contrary, the idea of Siri acting as a “hub” for multiple AI assistants could ultimately boost ChatGPT’s use. OpenAI’s main complaint seems to be the limited visibility and lack of use of the partnership by Apple.
The case also reveals something deeper about the new era of artificial intelligence: even the largest tech companies are struggling to balance control over their platforms with the partnerships that modern AI ecosystems require.
