Apple adds ChatGPT to its Intelligence features
Key Points
- Apple is seamlessly integrating OpenAI's ChatGPT into its iOS 18.2 and macOS Sequoia operating systems. The chatbot will work alongside the Siri voice assistant, automatically stepping in when it's better suited for a particular task.
- By default, users don't need an OpenAI account to use ChatGPT, ensuring that no personal data is stored or used to train the AI. Apple gives users full control over whether to enable and use the ChatGPT integration.
- The introduction of ChatGPT is part of Apple's slow and delayed rollout of its Apple Intelligence features. Many of the AI capabilities demonstrated months ago won't be available until 2025 and are currently unavailable in the EU due to regulatory restrictions.
Apple Intelligence now includes ChatGPT across Apple's operating systems as OpenAI becomes a key technology partner for the company's AI capabilities.
Following its debut at WWDC last June, Apple has added ChatGPT support to Apple Intelligence in iOS 18.2 for iPhones and iPads, and in macOS Sequoia for silicon-based Macs. The AI assistant works alongside Siri to handle more complex tasks.
ChatGPT now works directly with Siri and writing tools across Apple's operating systems. When Siri "thinks" ChatGPT would do a better job with a request, it automatically passes it to OpenAI's system—but only if you've turned on the feature.
OpenAI used Apple's announcement as an addition to its "12 Days of OpenAI" product launches. During a quick 10-minute stream, CEO Sam Altman and two other hosts showed off features like generating images through the ChatGPT iPhone app.
The demo wasn't very exciting. While they showed creating playlists through ChatGPT, users still have to manually load them into Spotify to actually listen. On the Mac side, they stuck to basic demonstrations like ChatGPT working with PDF files.
Built with privacy in mind
You don't need an OpenAI account to use the new ChatGPT features. If you skip the account, OpenAI won't store your requests or use them to train its AI. The system also hides your IP address to keep sessions private.
If you do sign in with an OpenAI account, their privacy rules kick in instead. Apple lets you control exactly when to use ChatGPT and what information it gets.
The ChatGPT integration arrived later than expected—it was initially planned for last fall. Apple Intelligence's development has been taking its time, with many features shown months ago not arriving until 2025.
Apple's other AI toys
Apple Intelligence additionally is introducing several new AI features with iOS 18.2. The update includes Image Playground for creative photo editing in Messages, Genmoji for creating personalized emojis, Image Wand for transforming sketches into images, and Writing Tools that make texts more dynamic through simple descriptions.
iOS 16 and later users can access these features from the Camera Control side button. The system integrates with Google Lens to identify objects, and GPT-4 helps break down complex diagrams.
Apple plans to update Siri in the coming months or years to understand more personal context and work with hundreds of new commands in both Apple and third-party applications. They're also adding a new Sketch style to Image Playground. EU regulations are blocking these AI features in European markets, but they are expected to be available starting in April 2025.
Meanwhile, OpenAI has been busy updating Canvas and releasing Sora, while introducing a new fine-tuning method and their final o1 model. Sora is also not available in the EU due to regulations.
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