Apple Discusses Integrating Meta's Generative AI Model into Its Own AI System

Discussion with AI Companies Other Than Meta

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 23rd (local time), citing sources, that Meta, the parent company of Facebook, and Apple have discussed integrating Meta's generative artificial intelligence (AI) model into Apple's proprietary AI system, 'Apple Intelligence.'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Apple Intelligence is an AI system applied to all Apple devices, including the iPhone. Apple has decided to incorporate AI features into its software, including the iPhone operating system iOS, which will be newly updated this year.

Although Apple has developed its own AI model, it is pursuing partnerships with other AI companies to perform specific tasks. Recently, Apple announced a partnership with OpenAI, the developer of the generative AI ChatGPT, and Craig Federighi, Apple's Senior Vice President of Software Engineering, also expressed interest in integrating Google's generative AI Gemini. Additionally, sources said that AI startups Anthropic and the conversational search engine Perplexity are also in talks with Apple to integrate their AI into Apple Intelligence.

If Apple signs contracts with partners other than OpenAI, Apple stated that consumers might be able to choose which external AI models they want to use in addition to Apple's internal system.

Sources also said that in discussions with other AI companies, Apple did not require mutual payments. Instead, AI companies can sell premium subscriptions for their services through Apple Intelligence, and Apple will take a portion of the subscription revenue generated on its devices, similar to how it operates the App Store. These discussions with the companies are not yet finalized and could fall through.

WSJ evaluated that by engaging in talks with various AI companies, Apple can avoid over-reliance on OpenAI.