Apple signs deal with OpenAI for iOS, still wants Google as an 'option'

[nmeagent]

There had better be an option to disable any and all LLM tendrils in iOS or I'm going to probably end up throwing my iPhone into a lake. Call me a luddite or neo-amish or whatever, but IMO the entire feature set is cursed and I want nothing to do with it.

[cjk2]

I don't think it is cursed yet. Apple seem to be taking a very conservative approach to the whole AI and LLM thing and are externalising it to OpenAI so they can cast it off if it turns out to be a pile of crap.

Where they are investing heavily is in some of the local on-device ML stuff which actually looks vaguely useful. And it's all standard classification, image processing and summarising stuff. All viable, not overhyped solutions. The photos.app contextual search thing is very useful already for example (even if it can't identify the difference between horses and cows very well).

Think of the standard hype/maturity curve. Apple know how to play it.

[diggan]

Apple already force useless "assistants" on you, how is this different? For example, you can't use CarPlay with Siri disabled, even if you dont use Siri at all. Similarly, you cant disable ChatGPT training on your chat history without also disabling history in general.

So to me this seems like a match made in heaven.

[Refusing23]

I agree

its not something i'd want either

but i see it could have a lot of potential benefits - especially on an iphone with multiple apps easily being able to communicate properly through this AI.

and of course it can provide awesome benefits for disabled people - making their device much more capable than before (in their hands)

[m463]

You want a local LLM.

honestly, I hope regulation allows sideloading and alternative apps sometime soon. We need to firewall our devices from the accelerating pace of data snarfing.

[lrvick]

I always wonder what it would take for people to exit the Apple cult.

Of all the evil behavior from Apple, I did not expect this to be the thing at least some users find to be the last straw.

[ksec]

It is very typical Apple that wants to play Google against OpenAI to their full advantage. All while buying themselves time to work on their own.

I just wish Microsoft could get their act together on their OS and release a Surface Phone

[cjk2]

Microsoft released a surface phone years ago and pissed off the developers by forcing them to rewrite everything and they all went to Android and iOS.

There has only been crack smokers at the wheel for the last 15 years or so.

[rgrmrts]

They did, and the Surface Duo and Surface Duo 2 were complete failures. The software was awful (I had both).

[cqqxo4zV46cp]

Are you too young to remember Windows Phone or what?

[nolongerthere]

> I just wish Microsoft could get their act together on their OS and release a Surface Phone

MS has given up on mobile as a OS or device category. In fact I’d argue MS has given up on the entire OS sector, as a revenue stream Windows is increasingly less relevant to their bottom line. They only see windows as a way to bring other applications (read: advertising) to their users but not as a means unto itself. Ask yourself, what new OS features has ms released since windows 10 that is more than UI changes, or applications that aren’t really a core part of the OS? Adding dark mode or tabs to notepad are not real features that anyone needs.

The truth is that the OS has gotten so complicated and it’s nearly impossible to find competent talent that is excited about OS design and development so it’s barely possible to just keep the OS up to date with the latest hardware, there’s simply no time or effort available for new development.

[ARandomerDude]

Ah yes, just what we’ve all been craving: even more Microsoft.

[nadsaeae]

What does this mean for Apple’s product positioning on privacy?

[lrvick]

They just simply keep repeating that they care about privacy and people will continue to believe it as long as the product UX is good.

[aurareturn]

Probably OpenAI giving the whole direct model(s) to Apple like how you could download LLAMA3 locally. It'd be up to Apple to build the infrastructure to run it at scale for their billions of devices.

[m463]

It seems to be to use the data without asking, but rubber stamp it by saying data is anonymized in the privacy policy.

[ChrisArchitect]

Related from weeks ago:

Apple finalizing deal with OpenAI to bring ChatGPT features to iOS 18

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40325876

Apple Will Revamp Siri to Catch Up to Its Chatbot Competitors

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40322104

[dc_ist]

It’ll be interesting to see how Apple markets this at WWDC. Will they explicitly say that OpenAI is powering this functionality?

[detourdog]

It might be a radio button feature. Click the model you want to use.

[mensetmanusman]

Me:”siri, how many Beatle’s songs are there?”

Siri:”here are the titles of 5 songs I found”

[dzhiurgis]

Is there going to be an option to use other model with same level integration or is it as anti-competitive as usual?

[cqqxo4zV46cp]

Not allowing for whatever customisation any particular nerd wants is not ‘anti-competitive’. Have you ever actually written software for public consumption? If some HN user told me that me not allowing them to swap out a dependency is anti-competitive I’d be quite within my rights to call them psychotic.

[whimsicalism]

I doubt Google and Apple have the relationship of trust such that they could actually sell Apple an API that would be used to power a core iOS service.

[SOLAR_FIELDS]

The article rightfully points out that Apple had Google Maps for several years on the device before launching their own maps service. I suspect that it will be treated more like search and not have the deep integrations with core API’s that their own eventual Ai offering will have. And of course when they do launch their own AI offering integration with the core API’s will probably be one of the big differentiators

[paxys]

You mean like search?

[throwaway5959]

If the models are running on-device, once the model files are delivered then it really doesn't matter what Google would do.

[scubadude]

I guess unfortunately Apple has no choice but to include bullshit AI in it's products and services or look like they have been left behind.

[dagmx]

TBF, if you exclude Generative AI, they’ve been ahead of the curve with including an NPU and on device ML features. They’ve pretty much included some ML feature in their product releases since the iPhone X was released.

[roydivision]

Came to say the same. My gut tells me they wouldn't go anywhere near this unless they were concerned to be seen not getting on the bandwagon. It is worrying that "AI" (read silly LLM toys) has become so prevalent that they need to do this.

[silisili]

I'm of the opinion that not every company needs to do its own AI thing. Let AI companies fight it out, and use the best.

Right now sure AI is a money vacuum, but will eventually be commodotized where only the best make much money.

Apple is probably smart to focus on their own hardware and software, and just rent out the best AI available.

[mrweasel]

Apple should consider an iPhone/iOS light, a version stripped of anything but the bare essentials. I get why they don't, the market isn't big enough, and they can barely sell their current best phone, the iPhone SE.

[AuryGlenz]

I don’t think Siri but as an LLM would be “bullshit.” It’d be an absolutely immense upgrade.

[theolivenbaum]

Let me guess, Apple is having to pay OpenAI for this, and they want Google to pay them for it instead