A once promising partnership between Apple and OpenAI could be heading for a legal confrontation, according to a report published Thursday.
OpenAI has been providing artificial intelligence services for iPhone and Mac users since 2024, but the deal is souring behind the scenes, with the software developer reportedly unhappy that it’s not getting much benefit from the partnership.
Apple and OpenAI partnership could be unraveling
With the introduction of iOS 18 at WWDC 2024, Apple gave Siri users the option to access OpenAI’s ChatGPT service when Apple’s own voice assistant couldn’t help them. It’s a feature that’s still available today.
But a new report from Bloomberg says tensions between the two companies have escalated behind the scenes. OpenAI has allegedly grown frustrated with what it sees as limited benefits from its partnership.
And the problems may have gown well beyond a bit of kvetching in the boardroom. OpenAI’s legal team is supposedly working with an outside legal firm on possible options, including a breach-of-contract notice aimed at Apple. A lawsuit might come later.
A corporate relationship goes sour?
The partnership was once seen as a major win for both companies. Apple gained access to one of the most recognizable AI brands, while OpenAI scored integration into hundreds of millions of Apple devices.
So what went wrong? The relationship appears to have cooled as Apple continues developing more of its own in-house AI technologies while also reportedly exploring partnerships with additional AI providers.
Perhaps more critically, Bloomberg reported that OpenAI executives expected the agreement to result in significantly more consumer adoption of ChatGPT — along with subscription fees — than actually came to pass. Those user fees are critical to OpenAI, as Apple is supposedly not paying anything to access ChatGPT with its devices.
Apple and OpenAI: More frenemies than partners
Even as they cooperated, both Apple and OpenAI made moves toward greater competition.
OpenAI is allegedly displeased by Apple’s plan to allow a range of third-party AI services to plug directly into new Apple Intelligence features in iPhone, iPad and Mac. The system would reportedly let users choose which AI models provide the brains for Siri, Writing Tools, Image Playground and more. So it wouldn’t just be OpenAI’s ChatGPT integrated into iOS 27 and macOS 27, it could be Gemini, Claude and others.
- See also: How Apple will win the AI war
At the same time, OpenAI is making anti-Apple moves. Most notably, it’s reportedly developing its own AI-powered smartphone to compete with the iPhone.
Given their growing rivalry, perhaps it’s not surprising that the two companies might end up on court over a past partnership. That said, Bloomberg noted that a formal lawsuit is not considered imminent.
Still, the rumored dispute highlights how quickly the AI boom reshaped Silicon Valley alliances. Just two years ago, Apple and OpenAI appeared eager to publicly showcase their cooperation on stage at WWDC. When WWDC 2026 kicks off in June, it now seems unlikely that OpenAI will play a major role.
Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 25 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh SE/30 (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer.
That’s because he’s a “tablet first” type of guy. Rather than use a Macbook, he connects a keyboard case to the iPad. And instead of a desktop Mac, he connects his tablet to a 27-inch display and full-size keyboard. (So don’t try to tell him that everyone has to use a Mac to be productive.)
Before coming to Cult of Mac, Ed wrote for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview and Brighthand, as well as other sites.
