Potential talks between these tech giants could change their competitive dynamics and redefine the artificial intelligence market.
Apple and Meta, two long-standing rivals, have begun discussing the possibility of integrating Meta’s generative artificial intelligence models into Apple Intelligence, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal on Sunday. The conversations illustrate what has until now been considered an unlikely collaboration between two tech giants that have been at odds on several issues for years.
The motivation for these conversations is Apple’s need to catch up with generative artificial intelligence. While Apple has been developing its own smaller AI models, the company has recognized the need to work with partners for more complex tasks. «We want to start with the best,» said Apple software chief Craig Federighi, referring to the OpenAI ChatGPT partnership, which was announced at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference earlier this month. Meta’s interest in this potential partnership stems from its desire to take advantage of Apple’s deep device penetration, similar to how the App Store allows multiple developers to reach millions of iPhone users.
This type of partnership will give Meta a significant advantage in the race for generative AI dominance. Given the significant changes that Mark Zuckerberg and his AI team have already made to the llama language model, they could gain a lot from a deal of this magnitude. In addition to Meta and OpenAI, we spoke with AI startups such as Anthropic and Perplexity.
These companies are interested in integrating their technology with Apple Intelligence. The Wall Street Journal quoted Federighi as saying that offering multiple AI models is beneficial to users because «they will prefer different models for different tasks, such as creative writing or medical research.» While the deal with Apple would represent a massive product launch for the AI company, its exact financial impact is still unclear. OpenAI expects ChatGPT usage to double when it integrates with Apple, although it will also increase infrastructure costs by 30% to 40%, said Gene Munster, a senior Apple analyst.
Munster said that between 10% and 20% of Apple users choose to pay for subscriptions to products like ChatGPT. «It’s hard to get distribution,» Munster said. «The beauty of what Apple has created is that you can deliver the promised distribution at scale.»
In short, Munster said, a partnership between Meta and Apple could generate billions of dollars in revenue for AI companies that successfully integrate with Apple’s new platform. A possible collaboration between Apple and Meta would also mark a turning point in their relationship. Tensions between the two companies have been simmering for more than a decade, especially when Apple introduced privacy changes in 2021 that Met says will cost it $10 billion in lost revenue by 2022. Additionally, in April Meta issued guidance for advertisers to avoid Apple’s 30% fee for «sponsored posts.»
With potential deals with several AI companies, Apple avoids relying too much on a single vendor like OpenAI. However, the ability to do so will depend on the specific terms of each conversation, as opposed to the established app store structure that allows developers to submit apps for approval.
Being able to choose between different AI models can be a significant advantage for users. The variety of options will allow them to choose the best tool for a specific task, strengthening the Apple ecosystem with various artificial intelligence capabilities.
