According to Bloomberg sources, a few months ago, Apple rejected Meta’s offer to bring AI chatbot to the iPhone.
Bloomberg sources revealed that Apple and Meta did not discuss cooperation related to Meta’s Llama chatbot but only held short negotiations in March. The partnership dialogue did not reach any stage. officially, and Apple has no plans to integrate Llama.
Apple does not want to use Meta’s AI chatbot for iPhone. Photo: Bloomberg
The preliminary talks occurred around the time Apple began seeking deals to use OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Alphabet’s Gemini in its products. Earlier this month, the iPhone maker announced a partnership with OpenAI and plans to offer Gemini in the future.
According to the source, Apple did not proceed with formal discussions with Meta partly because it found that parent company Facebook’s security practices were not strict enough. Apple has criticized Meta’s technology for many years, so bringing Llama to the iPhone would go against this.
In addition, “Apple” also considers ChatGPT to be a more advanced option. Meanwhile, Google – which is a search partner on the Safari browser – so the future agreement with Gemini is also based on the existing relationship.
At the 2024 Worldwide Developer Conference, Apple introduced the Apple Intelligence artificial intelligence feature set. These include self-developed tools to summarize notifications, convert notes to text, and create custom emojis.
However, Apple’s chatbot technology is not as advanced as its competitors, forcing the company to find partners. The company also believes that customers will want to choose between different chatbots based on their needs, similar to the way they switch between Google and Bing to search.
Apple is also continuing to negotiate with startup Anthropic to add another chatbot, according to Bloomberg. Apple Intelligence will roll out later this year as part of the iOS 18 operating system.
Media reported that Apple does not spend money to bring ChatGPT to iPhone, but they will allow customers to pay to sign up for subscriptions right in iOS 18, bringing revenue to software manufacturers. At the same time, Apple also receives App Store commissions.
About 10 years ago, the relationship between Apple and Meta became more friendly when Tim Cook’s company integrated Facebook into iOS. However, the two have become competitors over the past few years in several fields such as AI, smart homes and mixed reality headsets.
(Theo Bloomberg)