OpenAI Weighs Legal Options After Apple ChatGPT Deal Disappoints

Strained partnership

OpenAI is reportedly exploring legal options after the integration of ChatGPT into Apple products fell short of the AI company's hopes, insiders told Bloomberg.

At the time of the announcement, Apple compared the Siri-ChatGPT features to its longstanding Google search arrangement in Safari. That parallel generated enthusiasm at OpenAI, which anticipated annual subscription revenue in the billions from the arrangement, according to one executive who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Instead, the company now believes Apple deliberately under-promoted the capabilities and worries the rollout has harmed the ChatGPT brand. OpenAI particularly dislikes the requirement that users must say or type the word “ChatGPT” to activate the features through Siri, which the firm thinks creates unnecessary friction.

The AI firm also objects to design decisions such as confining responses to small windows that deliver minimal context, making it simple for people to overlook the tool entirely. When the agreement was reached, Apple provided few details on implementation, leading OpenAI to take what the executive described as a “leap of faith” that it now regrets.

“When we heard about this opportunity, it sounded amazing: being able to acquire a giant number of customers and have distribution in such a big mobile ecosystem,” the executive told Bloomberg.

Renegotiation attempts have stalled, according to Reuters. Feeling burned by the experience, OpenAI has refused additional collaborations on Apple’s own AI development. The company has now hired an external law firm to examine a range of formal steps that could be taken soon.

“We have done everything from a product perspective,” the executive said. “They have not, and worse, they haven’t even made an honest effort.” OpenAI prefers to settle the dispute without litigation if possible. One potential path involves claiming breach of contract, which sources indicated would not immediately require filing suit.

The company is expected to wait until its separate lawsuit with Elon Musk is resolved before confronting Apple. A ruling in that case could arrive next week. Musk sued last August, alleging the ChatGPT-Apple pact breached antitrust and unfair competition rules by bolstering OpenAI’s position in chatbots and Apple’s dominance in smartphones. The complaint has cleared dismissal attempts and is set for an October trial; any dissolution of the partnership could weaken Musk’s conspiracy narrative.

A federal magistrate this week ordered Apple to turn over internal messages from software chief Craig Federighi by mid-June concerning the pact and any exclusivity provisions.