Apple Intelligence may be the reason why OpenAI wants Microsoft to collaborate with archrival Oracle. Azure may be feeling the pressure because iOS 18 AI focus means many more GPUs are needed
Oracle, Microsoft and OpenAI are joining forces to extend the Microsoft Azure AI platform to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) in an effort to meet rising demand for AI. While not yet confirmed, this partnership is likely to be fueled at least in part by the integration of Apple Intelligence into iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia.
At WWDC, the Cupertino-based tech giant went all-in on AI, explaining how Apple Intelligence will use both on-device processing and Private Cloud Compute (PCC) to manage complex data and larger base models. It will also provide access to ChatGPT when needed (and with user permission), resulting in a new wave of traffic for OpenAI to deal with.
“We are excited to be working with Microsoft and Oracle. OCI will extend the Azure platform and enable OpenAI to continue to scale,” said Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI.
The Apple Effect
ChatGPT currently provides generative AI services to over 100 million users every month. This is a number that will likely increase exponentially once Apple Intelligence becomes generally available later this year.
OCI’s purpose-built AI capabilities allow startups and enterprises to build and train models in Oracle’s distributed cloud. Oracle says that for training LLMs, OCI Supercluster can scale up to 64k Nvidia Blackwell GPUs or GB200 Grace Blackwell Superchips. These are connected by ultra-low latency RDMA cluster networks and a choice of HPC storage, providing a powerful and efficient AI infrastructure.
OCI Compute virtual machines and OCI’s bare metal Nvidia GPU instances can power applications for generative AI, computer vision, natural language processing, recommendation systems and more.
“The race to build the world’s largest major language model is on, driving limitless demand for Oracle’s Gen2 AI infrastructure,” said Larry Ellison, chairman and CTO of Oracle. “Leaders like OpenAI choose OCI because it is the fastest and most cost-effective AI infrastructure in the world.”
While Apple Intelligence will undoubtedly drive demand for AI, it won’t be the only reason why OpenAI is pushing for this partnership. The new line of Copilot+ PCs will likely be a factor as well.