OpenAI said its December 2024 ChatGPT integration with Apple was “dramatically underperforming” by summer 2025, after it cut forecasts for additional weekly users a month after launch, 9to5Mac reported on 23 September.
Key points
- OpenAI had expected Apple’s promotion to bring ChatGPT more users and subscriptions.
- ChatGPT was off by default in Apple Intelligence and required a multi-step opt-in process.
- Apple rejected OpenAI’s request for two years of exclusivity and has since chosen Google’s Gemini models for its revamped Siri.
- OpenAI is seeking a ruling before trial in a competition case scheduled for January.
Apple launch fell short of OpenAI’s forecasts
When the companies agreed their partnership in 2024, OpenAI expected promotion by Apple to increase ChatGPT use and subscriptions. Its forecast rested partly on what it called a “halo effect” from association with Apple’s brand, according to the court filing as reported by 9to5Mac.
The integration gave Apple Intelligence users a way to call on ChatGPT through Siri. It also extended to Apple’s Writing Tools and Visual Intelligence, The Apple Post reported. Users could access it without a ChatGPT account, while those who signed in could connect an existing account for additional features.
OpenAI’s forecast changed quickly. The company began reducing its estimate of the additional weekly active users the arrangement would deliver a month after the December 2024 launch. By summer 2025, it had reached the assessment of severe underperformance now cited in its court filing.
ChatGPT was switched off by default within Apple Intelligence. Users had to opt in through several steps before using the integration, MacDailyNews reported. That put a user decision between Apple’s distribution of the feature and any use OpenAI might gain from it.
OpenAI’s expert, Dr Catherine Tucker, calculated the proportion of generative AI consumers who accessed ChatGPT through Apple Intelligence. OpenAI described her result as consistent with its internal assessment that Apple Intelligence had seen minimal usage, TechRadar reported. The filing characterises the integration’s effect on competitors as “indisputably de minimis”.
Apple kept Google option after exclusivity request
OpenAI had asked Apple for a two-year period in which it would be the exclusive AI provider, but Apple refused, MacDailyNews reported. The agreement left Apple able to integrate other services. OpenAI executives later worried that Apple might seek another AI partner more quickly, according to the filing as reported by 9to5Mac.
Apple software chief Craig Federighi had previously described a plan to let users choose among AI models, citing Google’s Gemini as a possible option, 9to5Mac reported. Apple has since turned to Gemini models to help power its revamped Siri. That arrangement concerns Siri’s newer AI capabilities rather than the additional model choice Federighi had described for the original integration.
The commercial relationship was also the subject of separate disputes. OpenAI was considering legal action over the partnership in May 2026, MacDailyNews reported. Apple sued OpenAI in July 2026, alleging theft of trade secrets. Those proceedings are separate from the competition case in which OpenAI has set out its account of ChatGPT’s adoption.
OpenAI seeks ruling before January trial
The account of the Apple integration forms part of OpenAI’s response to a lawsuit brought by Elon Musk’s xAI, now part of SpaceXAI. The challengers allege that the Apple–OpenAI arrangement restricted competition. Apple and OpenAI dispute the allegation that their agreement was exclusive, The Apple Post reported.
OpenAI has also argued that recent SpaceX securities disclosures conflict with the competitive harm alleged in the lawsuit, according to 9to5Mac. That argument sits alongside its account of limited ChatGPT use through Apple Intelligence in its response to the claims. OpenAI has asked Judge Mark Pittman to rule in its favour before trial.
The court has scheduled the case for trial in January, 9to5Mac reported.
