iOS 18’s Generative AI Features Could Be Powered By OpenAI 

Apple is reportedly back in talks with the ChatGPT owner to use its tech in iOS 18.

It is less than two months now until Apple previews iOS 18 at its upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference. And as that date approaches, we keep learning more thing about the features iOS 18 may offer. 

Now a new report from Bloomberg says that Apple is once again in discussions with OpenAI, the company that owns ChatGPT, to power some of the artificial intelligence features of iOS 18. As Bloomberg reports:

“Apple Inc. has renewed discussions with OpenAI about using the startup’s technology to power some new features coming to the iPhone later this year, according to people familiar with the matter.

“The two companies have begun discussing terms of a possible agreement and how the OpenAI features would be integrated into Apple’s iOS 18, the next iPhone operating system, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private.”

Bloomberg

Of course, as we previously reported, Apple is also in talks with Google to use its Gemini AI to power various artificial intelligence features in iOS 18 too (via an earlier Bloomberg report). However, Google and OpenAI aren’t the only AI companies Apple is talking to. Apple is also reportedly talking to China’s Baidu to use its AI to power AI features on the iPhone in China.

However, these reports jar with some other reporting that says that Apple may also run its own large language model technology directly on the iPhone in iOS 18. As we previously reported, this would allow all of the user’s queries to stay on their device instead of being sent to a cloud server to be analyzed. If a user’s queries could be analyzed on device, Apple or another AI partner would never even know what queries the user had, helping the user keep more of their privacy to themselves.

But if Apple is looking for AI partners, it’s likely every feature of iOS 18 that deals with artificial intelligence won’t be on-device. It’s possible that chatbot features may rely on using the cloud, while other features—maybe AI editing features or the like could be run locally on device.

Or perhaps Apple could offer users a choice between two types of chatbot settings. The first could be to use the Apple chatbot on-device only, which would result in faster replies, but may limit the knowledge of the chatbot.

Alternatively, Apple could give users the option to use the chatbot via remote servers, allowing users to get more in-depth and up-to-date answers, but sacrificing speed and privacy.

Of course, until Apple announces iOS 18, we won’t know for sure. In the meantime some other iOS 18 rumors have surfaced, including that it will finally allow users to organize their app icons anywhere they want in a grid formation on the home screen. This means you could keep an empty space between app icons if you want.

iOS 18 will also likely feature a revamped Notes app that supports in-line voice recordings and advanced mathematical notations.