On May 26, Apple and OpenAI officially reached an agreement on the authorization of AGI tools. ChatGPT features will be integrated into iOS 18 and macOS 15, enhancing the usage experience of Apple's AI tools. The cooperation between Apple and OpenAI is expected to be announced soon at the upcoming 35th Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 2024), where details on how ChatGPT will empower iOS 18 and macOS 15 will be revealed.

Facing significant AI announcements from competitors such as Microsoft, Google, and OpenAI, Apple needs to demonstrate to consumers and investors that it is equally innovative in this field. Therefore, Apple will introduce an improved Siri voice assistant at the conference and further elaborate on its AI strategic core, "Project Greymatter".

According to reports, "Project Greymatter" is the core of Apple's AI strategy, aiming to integrate AI tools into existing core applications such as Safari, Photos, and Notes, while enhancing system functions like notifications. The new features will primarily run on-device to handle less compute-intensive tasks, while more complex tasks will be offloaded to the cloud. iOS 18 and macOS 15 will come pre-installed with the same software, enabling more efficient task allocation between local and cloud processing. The chips in last year's iPhones, iPads, and Macs will support most on-device features, while the cloud components will be powered by M2 Ultra chips in data centers.

This strategic move allows Apple to leverage the strengths of established AI companies while focusing on seamless integration within its ecosystem. By collaborating with OpenAI and Google, Apple can maintain the competitiveness of its devices without developing its own AGI technology from scratch.

Specifically, Apple will introduce a range of new AI features for iOS 18 and macOS 15, including but not limited to: voice memo transcription, optimized Spotlight search, a "web eraser" feature for Safari, a "Clean Up" function for Photos, and automatic emoji generation for emails and text messages.

Notably, the Siri voice assistant will be based on Apple's proprietary large model and will use ChatGPT's mature functionalities to interact with users more naturally. It will even be integrated into the Apple Watch for handling mobile tasks. Currently, ChatGPT runs as an app on phones. According to the cooperation agreement, the updated Apple systems will allow the use of various chat functions without downloading the ChatGPT app, enhancing Apple's competitiveness in intelligent interactions and shortening product development cycles.

For some time, user privacy and security have been hot topics. Previously, Google and Meta were criticized for creating customer profiles without consent. Therefore, Apple must ensure user privacy and security while rolling out these new features. The company has long advocated for the benefits of on-device data processing and its enhanced data security measures. Despite potentially sensitive information being sent to its data centers, Apple maintains that its cloud-driven AI features offer robust privacy protection.

Although Apple's partnership with OpenAI fulfills its goal of having the industry's most advanced chatbot, recent internal disruptions at OpenAI pose some risk to this cooperation. Hence, Apple is actively seeking the use of Google's Gemini to mitigate risks and avoid "putting all eggs in one basket".

Given Apple's extensive global user base, hundreds of millions of Apple devices could propel Apple to the forefront of the AI field overnight. Additionally, Apple has reinforced its AI strategy with personnel support: recently, Cynthia Bowman was appointed as the Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion, replacing Barbara Whye. Since 2017, this position has changed hands four times.