The WWDC conference is fast approaching and rumors are rife about the new features that Apple could unveil. Among them, a partnership with OpenAI, the publisher of GPT-4 and ChatGPT, to improve generative AI on iPhone.
We know that the WWDC conference, from June 10 to 14, 2024, will be an opportunity for Apple to catch up with its competitors in the race for artificial intelligence, particularly with regard to generative AI.
Image modification and generation, dialogue, translation and speech synthesis are all areas in which Apple must position itself.
But, for the moment, the apple brand still seems to be in the research phase. Although Apple is working on several language models (LLM), the code regularly posted online does not suggest an imminent revolution.
This is why Apple is reportedly looking for partners to accelerate its push into chatbots and generative AI. Rumored to be by Mark Gurman (Bloomberg), the Cupertino company is reportedly discussing with Google to use Gemini on the iPhone, but also with OpenAI, the publisher of GPT-4 and ChatGPT.
A partnership with OpenAI: a reopening of dialogue
This latest rumor comes to us from Mark Gurman, a journalist renowned for his reliable sources at Apple. According to him, Apple has not yet made a final decision on which partners it will use, and there is no guarantee that an agreement will be reached. It’s possible that the company will ultimately reach an agreement with OpenAI and Google — or choose another vendor entirely.
This wouldn’t be the first time Apple and OpenAI have discussed a partnership. The two companies have already communicated in the past, without this leading to a concrete collaboration.
But this time things could be different. According to Bloomberg, the next iPhone operating system, iOS 18, would include several new features based on Apple’s internal Large Language Model — AI software that can generate text — but the company has also sought partners to power a chatbot-like functionality comparable to OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Tim Cook, a ChatGPT user
It must be said that Tim Cook himself seems to appreciate the features of ChatGPT. Last year, Apple’s CEO said he personally used OpenAI’s ChatGPT, but noted there was “ a certain number of problems which must be framed “. He promised that new AI features will come to Apple’s platforms over a ” very thoughtful base “.
By outsourcing generative AI functionality to another company, Tim Cook would potentially reduce liability for his platform. But it also raises ethical and social questions. How much control will Apple have over the data used by these language models? How can we ensure that these features will not be used for other purposes?