OpenAI says it plans lawsuits against Apple; He wouldn’t be the first friend to feel burned

OpenAI has been so disappointed with Apple because of the integration of ChatGPT that did not provide subscribers and the popularity that was expected that the company is also looking at lawsuits against the iPhone maker. Bloomberg News reported Thursdayto name people who are familiar with the matter.

According to Bloomberg, OpenAI has enlisted an outside litigation firm to exercise its discretion, which may include sending Apple a notice of breach of contract without going all the way to court (at least not immediately). Any legal moves can wait until the end of OpenAI’s lawsuit against Elon Musk.

However, it is a reminder of how Apple can be a difficult partner for large software companies. The iPhone is a very attractive platform for growth, but it is controlled by Apple – and the companies that build it are only foreigners. From Google to Adobe, there’s a long history of Apple showing visitors to the door where they seem to be living at their best.

TechCrunch has reached out to both OpenAI and Apple for comment.

The OpenAI agreement, which was announced at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June 2024, put ChatGPT in Apple’s operating system as an option within Siri and as part of the iPhone’s Visual Intelligence feature (allowing users to use their camera to analyze their surroundings and send images to ChatGPT with related questions).

OpenAI, along with industry leaders, hopes that this partnership can bring in billions of dollars in new registrations and give the company the best place in the world. In fact, Bloomberg reports, OpenAI has grown significantly, complaining that the integration is buried, which is difficult to find, and that the income from the tie-up is not close to what was expected. “They said, ‘OpenAI has to take a leap of faith and trust us,'” an OpenAI executive told Bloomberg. “It didn’t go well.”

Apple, for its part, has its complaints, including concerns about the privacy of OpenAI and, according to Bloomberg, anger at the push of OpenAI in hardware, an effort led by Apple officials, including the former head of design Jony Ive.

In any case, OpenAI is not the first Apple partner to regret hitching its wagon to the company. Apple has a long history of embracing partners and then alienating them. The most famous case is Google Maps, which was a big part of the original iPhone. It was so central to the device’s appeal that its removal in 2012 – replaced by the much cheaper Apple Maps – became one of the biggest technology changes of the decade, prompting a public apology from CEO Tim Cook.

The conflict between the two companies has been building for years at the time, due to the release of Google’s Android phone a year after the 2007 iPhone debut; After Google’s then-CEO Eric Schmidt stepped down from Apple’s board in 2009, the conflict intensified.

Adobe also has scar tissue. Steve Jobs refused to support Flash on iPhone and iPad, popular edition an open letter in 2010 to explain why and destroy technology. Flash has not yet restarted on mobile.

Then there’s Spotify, that one he lived for years argues that Apple used its power over the App Store to destroy competing music streaming services after launching Apple Music in 2015. The European Commission agreed, paying Apple approx. €1.8 billion in March 2024.

Sometimes these conflicts can be resolved in the name of business. Google is now Apple’s AI partner, having impressed a many years deat in January to power the next generation of Apple Intelligence with Gemini models. Apple pays Google about $1 billion a year.

Meanwhile, OpenAI has had its share of strained relationships recently. It’s Elon Musk a case against the company – which opposes OpenAI to give up his non-profit initiative to start and operate bad faith – is currently on trial.

The company is said to have also run into conflict with Microsoft, its main sponsor and partner, as it seeks independence ahead of its IPO ambitions.