Apple Turns Down Meta's AI Chatbot Deal

Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple was considering integrating tech giant Meta’s generative AI model into its new AI system. But according to a new report by Bloomberg, Apple has rejected the move due to privacy concerns, intensifying the ongoing rivalry between both companies.

Bloomberg reported that Apple hasn’t spoken to Meta about using its Llama chatbot in an AI partnership since March, when the companies held “brief talks.” At the time, Apple was talking with multiple AI companies about potential integrations with the iPhone, iPad, Mac and other devices.

At its developer conference earlier this month, Apple announced Apple Intelligence, which CEO Tim Cook called a “personal intelligence system” based on the company’s own generative AI models and custom semiconductor chips. Per a recent deal, Apple Intelligence will utilize OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

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However, the deal with OpenAI is not exclusive. The company reportedly wants to integrate with Google’s family of multimodal large language models known as Gemini, as well as AI startups Anthropic and Perplexity -- and for a moment, Meta.

Apple ended up rejecting the deal because it does not consider Meta’s privacy policies strict enough. A partnership may have also appeared to be contradictory, as Apple has publicly criticized the social media company’s technology and privacy practices in the past. 

Also, it's important to note that Meta and Apple are in direct competition with home devices and mixed-reality headsets. An AI integration may have further muddied the waters between two tech powerhouses that have historically had differences, especially after Apple’s imposed privacy changes in 2021, which cost Meta billions. 

Despite Apple blocking Meta’s chances at selling premium chatbot subscriptions through Apple’s global distribution of iPhones, Meta will continue to rely on its family of apps, including Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook and Messenger, which are used by about half the world’s population.

Earlier this week, Meta released its AI chatbot to users in India, its largest market. 

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