Apple is reportedly negotiating with Meta as part of a possible partnership around artificial intelligence on iOS 18. However, the two companies are used to picking trouble.
Not always easy. Here is how we could characterize the relationship between Apple and Meta. The two companies have regularly argued over issues of privacy and data collection for advertising purposes. In another area, the release of the Apple Vision Pro also sparked a notable and not very tender reaction from Mark Zuckerberg. Despite all this, the two companies would be ready to bury the hatchet to work jointly on iOS 18.
The Wall Street Journal indicates that Apple and Meta would discuss a potential partnership around artificial intelligence in iOS 18. The new version of the iPhone operating system, presented at WWDC 2024, indeed focuses a lot on AI, notably through the Apple Intelligence initiative. The OS is currently in the beta phase, with the stable version planned for the fall.
Meta AI in iOS 18
It would therefore not be surprising to see Meta AI enter the iOS 18 user experience like ChatGPT. As a reminder, if you ask Siri an elaborate question, the latter may consider that the OpenAI chatbot is more relevant to answer you. It then asks for your permission to transfer the request while Apple ensures that OpenAI is prohibited from collecting personal data via ChatGPT.
We can therefore assume that Apple wishes to establish a similar partnership with Meta to provide Meta AI as an alternative to ChatGPT on iOS 18. The Apple firm had also clearly hinted, during WWDC, that ChatGPT would not be the only one chatbot accessible in this way. Negotiations have been underway for some time with Google with this in mind, but also with Perplexity or Anthropic.
Finally, it is good to point out that Apple Intelligence requires some prerequisites to work. The new AI system is only available in English (US) and requires either iPhone 15 Pro or an iPad or Mac with an M1 chip or newer.
