OpenAI is preparing potential legal action against Apple over a ChatGPT integration that’s badly missed expectations, according to TechCrunch AI citing a Bloomberg report Thursday. The company has hired outside counsel to weigh its options, which could start with a formal breach-of-contract notice and escalate from there. Any move will likely wait until OpenAI’s ongoing trial with Elon Musk wraps up.
The partnership was the big reveal at Apple’s WWDC in June 2024. ChatGPT got woven into Siri and powered the iPhone’s Visual Intelligence feature, where users point their camera at something and ask questions. OpenAI and most industry watchers expected the deal to funnel billions in new subscriptions and plant ChatGPT in front of one of the largest mobile audiences on the planet.
That’s not what happened. TechCrunch AI reports OpenAI has grown frustrated that the integration is buried in the OS, hard to find, and producing revenue nowhere near projections. One OpenAI executive told Bloomberg: “They basically said, ‘OpenAI needs to take a leap of faith and trust us.’ It didn’t work out well.”
Apple’s Not Thrilled Either
The friction goes both ways. Apple has raised concerns about OpenAI’s privacy standards, per the report. There’s also reported irritation over OpenAI’s hardware push, which is being led by former Apple executives including ex-design chief Jony Ive. When your partner starts poaching your alumni to build a competing device category, the relationship cools fast.
Why This Matters
This is a familiar pattern. Apple invites a partner in, gives them prime real estate, then quietly squeezes them out once Cupertino’s own version is ready. The receipts:
- Google Maps: flagship iPhone feature from day one, ripped out in 2012 and replaced by the disastrous Apple Maps launch that forced Tim Cook to publicly apologize.
- Adobe Flash: Steve Jobs killed it on iPhone with his 2010 open letter. Flash never recovered on mobile.
- Spotify: years of App Store grievances after Apple Music launched in 2015. The European Commission sided with Spotify in March 2024 with a €1.8 billion fine.
For AI builders, the lesson is sharp. The iPhone is the most attractive distribution channel in software, but you’re a guest in someone else’s house. Visibility, defaults, and discoverability are levers Apple controls completely. A logo on the WWDC stage doesn’t guarantee subscribers.
What Stands Out
Google is now Apple’s actual AI infrastructure partner. In January, the two struck a multiyear deal worth roughly $1 billion a year for Gemini models to power the next generation of Apple Intelligence. That context reframes the OpenAI complaint. If Apple is paying Google a billion a year for the AI backbone, ChatGPT was always going to be the side dish, not the main course.
OpenAI is also fighting on multiple fronts. The Musk trial is active. Tensions with Microsoft, its largest backer, have been simmering as OpenAI pushes for more independence ahead of an eventual IPO. Adding Apple to the legal docket would be a bold move for a company that needs distribution partners more than fights.
What To Watch
- Whether OpenAI sends a formal breach-of-contract notice once the Musk trial concludes.
- How Apple repositions Siri integrations now that Gemini is the infrastructure layer.
- Whether OpenAI’s hardware play with Jony Ive accelerates as a hedge against platform dependency.
The broader signal for everyone building on top of big platforms: own your distribution where you can, because guests don’t get to renegotiate the lease. More details at the original TechCrunch AI report.