Apple has decided not to sit in OpenAI’s board due to the scrutiny by regulatory authorities that invest in artificial intelligence giants.
Apple Fellow Phil Schiller Won’t be Sitting in OpenAI’s Board as an Observer, Neither Will Microsoft
When authorities put their foot on the ground, things can start to get real bad for companies who may be flying a little too high. Apple knows this and has decided to pull away from its observer role seat in OpenAI’s board, according to a report by Financial Times.
As part of the deal between OpenAI and Apple to bring ChatGPT to iPhone, iPad and Mac, the Cupertino company got an observer role seat in OpenAI’s board. The person chairing that seat would have been Apple Fellow Phil Schiller. According to the report, Apple has given up that seat otherwise regulatory scrutiny would have created problems.
But it’s not just Apple that has given up its seat, Microsoft also has an observer role seat in OpenAI’s board. They too have stepped back. Now, do keep in mind that an observer role essentially gives you access to all key meetings, but the person sitting in the chair doesn’t have any voting rights. Apparently, authorities don’t like such things, at all.
The most interesting thing to note here is how Microsoft is a massive OpenAI investor. However, Apple hasn’t paid a single dime to OpenAI for bringing its services to its platform. Still, authorities believe this is worth the scrutiny before the whole deal moves forward, free or not.
Apple Intelligence is a giant leap forward in terms of software from Apple. But, given how things stand, Apple knows it can’t walk this path alone and needs all the help it can get to compete with services like Gemini, Meta AI and more. OpenAI seems like an obvious choice, and Apple is also working to bring other AI services that will work side-by-side with Siri.
Speaking of Siri, the enhanced experience will be available next year as it is not ready yet. It is the Siri everyone has been waiting for and one which we were hoping will take over Apple’s platform when iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia releases later this year. Guess we’ll have to wait just a little more for it.
