Could Apple Turn to Anthropic or OpenAI to Power Siri?

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Apple finds itself at a critical juncture in the artificial intelligence race, with new reports suggesting the tech giant is seriously considering partnering with external AI companies like Anthropic and OpenAI to power future versions of Siri. This potential strategy shift represents a significant departure from Apple's traditional approach of keeping core technologies in-house.

The Intelligence Behind the Decision

According to recent reporting from Mark Gurman, Apple has been in discussions with both Anthropic and OpenAI about running their AI models on Apple's own server infrastructure. This approach would theoretically maintain Apple's privacy commitments while leveraging the advanced capabilities these companies have already developed.

"Apple has asked both Anthropic and OpenAI if they could train their models to work on Apple's servers," the MacBreak Weekly panel discussed during their latest episode. The implications of such a move would be far-reaching for a company that has built its reputation on controlling every aspect of the user experience.

Jason Snell of Six Colors offered perspective on why this exploration makes business sense: "It's almost malpractice if you weren't talking to Perplexity and OpenAI and like... you've got to." The sentiment reflects the competitive pressure Apple faces as rivals advance their AI capabilities while Siri continues to lag behind user expectations.

The Talent Exodus Challenge

Perhaps more concerning for Apple than the competitive landscape is the reported difficulty in retaining AI talent. The company has allegedly faced threats from entire teams considering departures, with one core Siri team reportedly threatening to leave unless they received significant compensation increases.

Andy Ihnatko highlighted Apple's fundamental challenge: "Apple can't match the salaries that other companies are offering, the opportunities or the prestige that come with offering competing companies." This talent retention crisis has reportedly affected multiple teams, including researchers working on Apple's open-source machine learning framework optimized for Apple Silicon.

The departure of Tom Gunter, one of Apple's most senior large language model researchers after eight years with the company, exemplifies the broader trend affecting the industry. As Alex Lindsay noted during the discussion, "If you're a senior programmer or a very adept programmer, the value of people who can still understand the code, especially related to AI, oh big bucks."

Strategic Implications and Precedent

The potential partnership wouldn't be entirely unprecedented for Apple. The company has historically relied on external partners for various services, including running portions of iCloud on Google and Amazon servers. Jason Snell pointed out this parallel: "I was under the impression that iCloud was running on Google servers and I think Amazon servers as well, and I think it probably still is in part."

However, AI represents a more fundamental component of Apple's future product strategy. The decision to potentially outsource this capability, even temporarily, suggests recognition that Apple's current AI development timeline may not align with market demands and competitive pressures.

Alex Lindsay offered a pragmatic view of the situation: "You outsource things until you have it working internally, and then you slowly pull it back into the system." This approach could provide Apple with the breathing room needed to develop its own competitive AI capabilities while maintaining relevance in the current market.

Privacy Considerations and User Impact

The privacy implications of any external AI partnership remain a critical consideration for Apple. The company has built significant brand value around its privacy-first approach, making any perceived compromise potentially damaging to its reputation.

However, if Apple can successfully implement third-party AI models on its own infrastructure without compromising user data, the privacy concerns may be manageable. The key would be ensuring that external AI companies have no access to user information, maintaining Apple's current privacy standards while dramatically improving Siri's capabilities.

From a user perspective, the change could be transformative. As Alex Lindsay observed about his family's usage patterns: "My whole family uses ChatGPT every day, all day, and doesn't care whether Siri can do it or not. They've given up on Siri."

The Broader Industry Context

Apple's potential AI strategy shift reflects broader challenges facing established technology companies in adapting to the AI revolution. Meta has similarly been building new AI teams rather than relying solely on existing capabilities, with Mark Zuckerberg reportedly writing substantial checks to attract top talent.

The situation illustrates what Alex Lindsay described as a fundamental challenge for established companies: "Every established company always has trouble fitting the new model. It's the new wine into the old wineskin." The companies succeeding in AI—OpenAI, Anthropic, and to some extent Google—either started as AI-focused entities or had significant head starts in the technology.

Looking Forward

According to reports, Apple's exploration of third-party AI partnerships remains in early stages. The mere consideration represents a significant acknowledgment of current limitations. Whether Apple ultimately chooses to partner with external AI companies or doubles down on internal development, the company faces mounting pressure to deliver meaningful improvements to Siri and its broader AI capabilities.

The coming months will likely prove crucial in determining Apple's AI strategy direction. With user expectations continuing to rise and competitive pressure mounting, Apple's decisions around AI partnerships could significantly impact its position in the next phase of consumer technology evolution.

As Jason Snell concluded during the discussion, the fundamental question for Apple leadership is whether they believe their current ML teams "can catch up to what these other chatbots are doing for Siri purposes in a year, two years, three years, five years or never, and then choose accordingly."

The answer to that question may determine not just Siri's future but Apple's broader competitive position in an increasingly AI-driven technology landscape.