Apple iPhone could soon include Google or OpenAI’s artificial intelligence, report claims

Upcoming update could bring third-party generative AI tools to the iPhone, report says

The European Commission said that customers may have been paying too much as a result of Apple’s practices (Kirsty O’Connor/PA) (PA Archive)

The iPhone could soon include generative artificial intelligence from Google or OpenAI, according to a new report.

Apple is in “active negotiations” to add ChatGPT or Gemini into the iPhone, according to a new report from Bloomberg.

Some critics suggested that Apple missed out on the recent artificial intelligence boom. While it has included a variety of machine learning features in recent updates, it has yet to reveal any major features powered by the technology behind systems such as chatbots or AI image generators.

Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, has repeatedly said that Apple is working on new tools, and recently said it was devoting “a tremendous amount of time and effort” to AI tools. They should arrive “later this year”, he said.

Apple has been working on a new version of Siri that will use the same large language model technology as found in ChatGPT, for instance. Many of those are expected to run on the iPhone itself.

But the company is also working to include cloud systems such as those made by Google and OpenAI, the Bloomberg report said. That could allow users to generate images with text, for instance.

Google’s AI technology has already been integrated into its own Pixel devices, as well as some made by Samsung. But it is unclear how it would be included in Apple’s iPhones, and whether it would be explicit that it was powered by Google.

Apple and Google already have a similar deal in place to make Google the default search engine on Apple’s devices. Google is thought pay around $18 billion per year to Apple in that deal, marking a considerable part of its revenues.

The new features are not expected to be announced before Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, in June. The company’s own AI tools are expected to be announced at the same event.