OpenAI Weighs Lawsuit Against Apple Over ChatGPT Integration

OpenAI is weighing legal action against Apple after concluding the companies' partnership to bring ChatGPT to Apple devices such as the iPhone has fallen short because Apple did not do enough to support the integration.

Bloomberg reported on May 14, citing people familiar with the matter, that OpenAI has retained outside counsel and is reviewing legal options, including a possible lawsuit against Apple.

Apple introduced its in-house artificial intelligence system, Apple Intelligence, in June 2024 and added a feature allowing Siri to use ChatGPT to answer questions. At the time, the partnership was viewed as a way for each company to shore up a weakness.

Apple could strengthen Siri, which had faced criticism for lagging behind rivals, by pairing it with the popular ChatGPT model. OpenAI, meanwhile, expected to draw a large influx of new users through Apple's device ecosystem.

But OpenAI now believes the partnership has failed to meet expectations. People familiar with the matter said the company had expected ChatGPT to be integrated more deeply into Apple's operating system and placed in a more accessible spot for users.

In OpenAI's view, the use of its technology within Apple's operating system remains limited. It also believes ordinary users have difficulty finding the feature or calling up ChatGPT through Siri. Even when connected, the service provides shorter, more constrained answers than the standalone ChatGPT app, the report said.

OpenAI believes that implementation has damaged its brand reputation. The company had expected its agreement with Apple to generate billions of dollars a year in subscription revenue, but actual results have missed expectations.

The two companies are also moving rapidly toward direct competition. Apple has chosen Google's Gemini as its default AI model instead of OpenAI's technology, and plans to broaden Siri's AI integrations beyond ChatGPT.

OpenAI has also increased the odds of a hardware clash with Apple after acquiring io, the startup associated with former Apple design chief Jony Ive, to develop AI devices. Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman told The Wall Street Journal late last year that the two companies were headed for competition.

Still, OpenAI said Apple's adoption of other AI models is not itself the reason it is reviewing legal action, noting that the original partnership was not exclusive.

Oh Se-song, Hankyung.com reporter sesung@hankyung.com