Sources: OpenAI is weighing legal action against Apple after expectations that ChatGPT's Siri integration would generate billions in revenue fell short
Apple Inc.'s two-year-old partnership with OpenAI has become strained, according to people familiar with the matter …
BloombergMark Gurman
Context & Ripple Effects
The partnership began with Apple adding ChatGPT to its operating systems without paying OpenAI, while Apple was reportedly aiming to build future revenue-sharing arrangements with chatbot providers. That left the commercial value of distribution through Siri central to the relationship.
Apple has also argued, in response to xAI’s competition claims, that it intends to integrate other chatbots. Against that backdrop, OpenAI’s reported dissatisfaction makes the partnership’s economics and any preferred-access expectations a more consequential point of friction.
First-order effects
OpenAI and Apple face a more adversarial relationship as OpenAI weighs legal action over the Siri integration’s weaker-than-expected revenue outcome.
The reported revenue shortfall directly weakens the business case OpenAI expected from its placement in Apple’s software, while Apple faces pressure over how it manages the integration and partner economics.
Second-order effects
Apple’s stated plan to support other chatbots gains added significance: broader provider choice could reduce OpenAI’s leverage but also make the terms of access more important to every AI supplier.
A dispute over Siri distribution could complicate OpenAI’s ability to treat Apple’s ecosystem as a dependable monetization channel, and could make comparable platform-partnership negotiations more contentious.
Third-order effects
If platform owners add multiple model providers while suppliers seek meaningful revenue from integration, AI partnerships may shift from showcase integrations toward more explicit commercial and access terms.
The episode points to a developing tension between platform control over assistant distribution and model providers’ need to capture value from that distribution; litigation, if pursued, could become a mechanism for testing those boundaries.
The trend: Consumer-AI distribution is moving from early integration partnerships toward harder negotiations over choice, access, and revenue sharing between platforms and model providers.
it is pretty funny to be like “oh damn the deal we cut sucks, time to sue you” also reminds me of the Square/Starbucks deal from years back, in which square thought it was getting a distribution coup but they negotiated poorly and ended costing them $$$ (no lawsuit there tho!)
The ChatGPT integration in iOS is basic, including summarized results that are subpar to what is present in the ChatGPT App Store app. Integration and subscription options are also more limited than what OpenAI expected during deal discussions.
“We have done everything from a product perspective,” said an OpenAI executive with knowledge of the matter, who declined to be named. “They have not, and worse, they haven't even made an honest effort.” The company is working with a law firm to help it with the situation.
BREAKING: Apple and OpenAI's once-blockbuster relationship over ChatGPT integration in iOS has become strained and the AI startup is now preparing possible legal action against Apple, believing their deal has flopped. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
You rarely see companies fight Apple like this in public. Not sure exactly what OpenAI was expecting but it's true that Siri is the absolute worst way to use ChatGPT [embedded post]
Says a lot about this $852bn company that they thought one of their best revenue bets was to just plug their chatbot into someone else's virtual assistant tech and reap rewards. Some real Underpants Gnomes thinking. [embedded post]
(Bloomberg) - Apple Inc.'s two-year-old partnership with OpenAI has become strained, according to people familiar with the matter, with the AI startup failing to see the expected benefits from the deal and now preparing possible legal action — @markgurman.bsky.social — www.bl…
For its part, Apple has been furious for over a year about OpenAI's aggressive recruiting of its hardware engineers for its AI devices division that was acquired from former Apple design chief Jony Ive. Apple has also been wary of OpenAI's privacy practices.
There is no world in which you don't buy the next iPhone because Siri isn't as good as another AI app. OpenAI losing partnerships with both Microsoft and now Apple is bad for them - not Apple. And gives Anthropic a huge leg up. More public companies have Anthropic stake than