OpenAI has told a court that its 2024 partnership with Apple to put ChatGPT inside Apple Intelligence “dramatically underperformed,” according to Financial Times.
The filing, first detailed by the Financial Times, says OpenAI expected a “halo effect” from Apple’s brand and a lift in subscriptions once ChatGPT was available on millions of iPhones. Instead, uptake was weak almost immediately. A month after launch, OpenAI cut its forecasts for extra weekly active users. By summer 2025, the company concluded the integration was dramatically underperforming.
One reason cited in the documents: ChatGPT was off by default. Users had to complete a multi-step process to turn it on, adding a friction with which many never bothered. OpenAI also worried Apple might move quickly to another AI partner. The deal was never exclusive; Apple refused a two-year exclusivity request and later turned to Google’s Gemini models to power a revamped Siri.
The Financial Times notes that the commercial shortfall helped sour the relationship. In May, the paper reported that OpenAI was considering legal action against Apple over the partnership. In July, Apple sued OpenAI, alleging large-scale trade-secret theft. Wednesday’s comments appear in OpenAI’s response to an antitrust case brought by Elon Musk’s xAI (now part of SpaceX) that challenges the Apple-OpenAI arrangement.
Apple has positioned itself as a gatekeeper for consumer AI, able to put models in front of a huge installed base. OpenAI’s first public comments on the ChatGPT integration, as reported by the Financial Times, suggest that particular bet delivered far less than either side hoped.
MacDailyNews Take: ChatGPT. The AI for newbies who don’t know better alternatives exist.
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