Apple Intelligence expects Google Gemini integration and ChatGPT at launch
At WWDC 2024, Apple confirmed that its upcoming Apple Intelligence toolset would include integration with ChatGPT, helping to better answer user queries that Siri can’t handle on its own. Now we’re hearing that a second third-party chatbot may be added to the mix.
According to Bloomberg’s Apple expert Mark GurmanGoogle Gemini could join ChatGPT as one of two Siri-compatible chatbot options in Apple Intelligence. This integration would give iPhone, iPad, and MacBook users the ability to tap into the cloud-based powers of ChatGPT or Google Gemini when Siri can’t answer a query on the device.
Apple will reportedly announce its partnership with Google “this fall” (aka September), coinciding with the supposed launch of Apple Intelligence, iOS 18, and the iPhone 16 line.
There are rumors going around about a partnership between Apple and Google. swirling for a while now, but many tech commentators – including Ny Breaking’s Lance Ulanoff – have questioned its authenticity given Apple’s historical reluctance to equate the best iPhones with the best Android phones.
Ulanoff wrote in March: “Apple’s goal with the iPhone 16, iOS 18, and future iPhones is to differentiate its products from Android phones. It wants people to switch, and they’ll only do that if they see a tangible benefit. If the generative tools on the iPhone are the same as what you can get on the Google Pixel 8 Pro (and 9) or Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (and S25 Ultra), why switch?”
It’s a fair question, but perhaps Apple sees the additional (and so far unique) partnership with ChatGPT as the unique selling point of its new and upcoming devices.
There’s also the matter of revenue to consider. Gurman recently reported that Apple’s “long-term plan is to monetize Apple Intelligence,” with the company eager to take “a share of the subscription revenue from each AI partner it brings on board.”
It therefore appears that Apple will release a paid version of Apple Intelligence that will include the premium features of ChatGPT and Google Gemini, which will require payment.
Incidentally, Gurman also reports that Apple had brief discussions with Meta about incorporating its Llama chatbot into Apple Intelligence, but the iPhone maker reportedly decided not to partner due to privacy concerns and preference for Google’s superior AI technology.