Apple is one step away from bringing ChatGPT to the next iPhones: this is what we know

Apple is about to close a deal with OpenAI, manufacturer of ChatGPT, a few weeks before the launch of its iOS 18 update for iPhone. The agreement with OpenAI will allow Apple to use the firm’s AI technology on the iPhone, according to a new report from Bloomberg.

ChatGPT DOWNLOAD

The news that Apple is in talks with OpenAI is not new: it was already known that the iPhone manufacturer was talking both with Google and with the owner of ChatGPT to include chatbot features in iOS 18.

However, after this latest report, it now seems increasingly likely that Apple will partner with an external party for some of its iOS 18 iPhone AI features. So, what does this mean for the security, privacy, and functionality of your iPhone?

Apple’s AI strategy goes through OpenAI

Privacy and security are at the core of Apple’s AI strategy. After all, one of the iPhone manufacturer’s ads states: “Privacy. That’s iPhone.”

This is also the ethics that underlies all the AI functions that will come in iOS 18, with Apple processing as much as possible on the device. Apple is already manufacturing chips capable of the powerful processing needed for AI tools, such as the M4 chip in the latest iPads. When the iPhone 16 is launched this fall, it will also have these capabilities.

Apple is installing its own Mac-grade chips on its servers, which will give it more control over cloud-based AI capabilities. Finally, the partnership with OpenAI could power a chatbot for the iPhone.

The agreement with OpenAI is similar to Apple’s partnership with Google for Search, which has been ongoing for years and is estimated to be worth $18 billion.

As Mark Gurman writes for Bloomberg, Apple’s AI strategy encompasses three areas:

• A) LLM on device (internal)
• B) LLM on cloud (internal)
• C) Chatbot “(OpenAI secure, Google maybe)”.

“Apple is not building its own chatbot, but it knows that the market wants it, so it is going elsewhere to get it,” says Gurman. “It’s the same playbook as search.”

However, security and privacy have their drawbacks. Although on-device processing offers privacy and security, functionality is an issue for older iPhones.

As Zak Doffman writes, from Forbes: “While AI will offer powerful on-device processing capabilities, this will only be possible if your iPhone has the cable for it. The same will happen with older iPhones when iOS 18 hits the streets, hence the likely warning of ‘iOS on iPhone 16’ for large-scale on-device processing.”

“The latest hardware can be optimized for AI, but it is not possible to do the same with older general-purpose processing and achieve anything similar to similar results.”

ChatGPT DOWNLOAD

Processing on the device and control over data will be a key battleground when Apple presents iOS 18 at its Worldwide Developers Conference next month.

For now, the reported OpenAI agreement provides Apple with functionality for the iPhone when iOS 18 arrives this fall. If it becomes a reality, it also allows Apple to absolve OpenAI of responsibility, while maintaining its own reputation for privacy and security.