Topics: Technology, Apple, iPhone, News, Artificial Intelligence
Over a decade on from Apple acquiring Siri and it's getting a huge upgrade.
For months it's been rumored that the tech powerhouse has been in talks with OpenAI, to company behind ChatGPT, to merge the chatbot and virtual assistant with Siri - and their partnership has now been confirmed.
The huge news was announced at the 2024 Apple Worldwide Developers Conference today (Monday, June 10), with ChatGPT set to be part of Apple's iOS 18 update that will be available later this year at no additional cost to users.
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As well as iPhones, the update will be available on iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia.
As part of the announcement, Apple said that user queries won’t be logged and that ChatGPT will be part of its devices' systemwide writing tools, The Verge reports.
Also sharing the news of the new collaboration, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a statement: "We’re excited to partner with Apple to bring ChatGPT to their users in a new way.
"Apple shares our commitment to safety and innovation, and this partnership aligns with OpenAI’s mission to make advanced AI accessible to everyone."
But ChatGPT isn't expected to be the only AI that will be available on Apple devices. While it'll be the first, it's believed that Apple also have plans to integrate other AI assistants like Google Gemini to be offered in the future, according to 9to5Mac.
In the meantime, tech fans are very excited about the company teaming up with OpenAI.
Speaking ahead of today's WWDC event, industry expert Ben Wood, the chief analyst at CCS Insight, said: "I’ve been using the ChatGPT voice interface, and its understanding of questions and requests is the best I’ve experienced so far.
"If Apple has signed a deal to integrate GPT-4o with Siri, it could deliver a remarkable transformation in Siri’s performance — and emerge as arguably the biggest story from the event."
He added: "This feels like a momentous WWDC."
As to what iPhone users can expect ChatGPT to bring to iOS 18, some examples given included invoking Siri for recipe ideas from a list of ingredients, backyard landscaping advice with GPT-4o's image recognition, and using Compose to write a bedtime stories, Mashable reported.
Elsewhere at WWDC, it was announced the Apple Vision Pro headset will be launched in the UK and other parts of the globe next month.
The Vision Pro would go on sale in the UK on July 12, starting at £3,499, and will also come to Australia, Canada, France, Germany, mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore as part of the new rollout.
