Meta agrees with Apple to integrate its AI model into Apple Intelligence

Apple and Meta, traditionally considered competitors, have held talks about a potential partnership to integrate Meta’s generative artificial intelligence model into Apple Intelligence, the recently announced AI system for iPhone, iPad and macOS, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Meta, along with other generative AI developers, is looking to leverage Apple’s extensive distribution network, particularly through the iPhone, similar to the App Store.

Despite being a late entrant to the generative AI space, Apple has developed its own small language models and announced plans to work with partners to expand the capabilities of Apple Intelligence. During the recent World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC), Apple announced OpenAI as its first partner.

“We wanted to start with the best,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s head of software, after the presentation, calling ChatGPT the best choice for users today. Federighi also expressed interest in integrating Google’s Gemini AI.

In addition to negotiations with Google and Meta, startups Anthropic and Perplexity are also in talks with Apple to integrate their generative AIs into Apple Intelligence.

If Apple signs agreements with these partners, customers will be able to choose which external AI models to use alongside Apple’s internal systems.

Negotiations with Meta highlight the new alliances forming between major tech companies in the AI era. With OpenAI technology already built into Microsoft and Apple devices, a deal between Apple and Meta would be particularly notable given their history of rivalry.

In these discussions, neither Apple nor the AI companies are seeking to make money from each other. Instead, AI companies will have the opportunity to sell premium subscriptions through Apple Intelligence, and Apple will receive a portion of the subscription revenue, similar to the App Store model.