Recently, Meta is negotiating with Apple to integrate the AGI models into Apple Intelligence for use in iPhones and other devices. Apart from Google and Meta, AI startups Anthropic and Perplexity have also been in discussions with Apple regarding potential collaborations.

However, these discussions have not been finalized yet, and the scale of cooperation remains unclear, with the possibility of them not materializing. As of now, none of the involved companies have responded to media requests for comments.

At this month's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 2024), Apple officially introduced Apple Intelligence to the public, stating that the company will seek additional partners to advance more complex or specific tasks, with OpenAI being its first announced partner.

It is reported that OpenAI's ChatGPT will be integrated into iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS Sequoia operating systems, and will be available for free on iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPad, and Mac devices starting in the second half of this year.

The integration of ChatGPT with Apple Intelligence suite will drive innovation across Apple's applications suite, including Siri, push-to-top notifications, text summarization, image generation, etc.. In the future, ChatGPT can be summoned via Siri or directly within applications without downloading a separate app from the App Store.

Earlier this year, there were reports of Apple actively negotiating with Google over the use of Gemini, and at WWDC 2024, Apple's Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi expressed the company's willingness to collaborate with multiple firms to provide consumers with more diverse choices. Apple is also reducing its dependence on OpenAI to a greater extent to enhance user privacy.

If Apple and Google reaches an agreement, Google will pay Apple billions of dollars a year to make its search engine the default option in Safari, and Apple will also get a 36% cut of Google search ads in Safari.

Meanwhile, Apple will also be discussing partnerships with a number of local AI companies in China. The company has reportedly met with a number of Chinese AI companies, including Baidu, Alibaba, and AI startup Baichuan Intelligence, in order to deal with the competitive pressure in the Chinese market, after all, many of the country's local handset makers have already managed to incorporate AI features into their products.

If Apple finally reaches an agreement with Meta, its main challenge will be to seamlessly integrate Meta's AI capabilities into Apple Intelligence while maintaining Apple's renowned standards of user privacy and data security. Over-reliance on external partners could also impact Apple's unified AI development strategy.

Analysts suggest that Apple's vast user base provides a substantial foundation to monetize Apple Intelligence significantly. Besides driving iPhone upgrades through its AI capabilities, Apple can also generate substantial revenue from advertising through its search function. Moreover, the introduction of more AI-centric applications in the future could further boost revenue growth for the App Store.

In previous negotiations, Apple reportedly did not require AI companies to pay fees but instead adopted an "AI Big Model Store" model, allowing partners to offer advanced subscription services through the Apple Intelligence platform, similar to services provided on the App Store, with Apple taking a portion of the subscription revenue as platform fees.

For AI companies who eager to negotiate with Apple, this presents an excellent opportunity to enhance product visibility and potentially increase revenue.

Gene Munster, Senior Apple Analyst and Managing Partner at Deepwater Asset Management, predicts a doubling of ChatGPT's usage rates following collaboration with Apple, albeit with a corresponding increase of 30%-40% in infrastructure costs for OpenAI. However, an estimated 10%-20% of Apple users may subscribe to ChatGPT features, potentially translating into billions of dollars in revenue for AI companies successfully integrated with Apple Intelligence.

"Access to distribution channels is typically challenging, and Apple's appeal lies in its extensive distribution network," added Gene Munster.

In conclusion, Apple Intelligence's "diverse collaboration" strategy undoubtedly creates a "win-win" situation for many participants involved.