OpenAI Weighs Lawsuit as Apple AI Partnership Sours

OpenAI is preparing a potential future lawsuit against Apple due to dissatisfaction with the results of the companies’ two-year-old partnership, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing unnamed sources.

The artificial intelligence (AI) startup is also considering other options, such as sending a notice alleging breach of contract, according to the report.

OpenAI is readying these potential courses of action because the company believes Apple has made only limited use of the firm’s AI technology and has made the existing AI-driven features hard to find, the report said.

The AI startup had expected the partnership to deliver greater integration of its ChatGPT chatbot into Apple software, prime placement in the tech giant’s Siri voice assistant, and more subscribers to the chatbot, per the report.

Neither Apple nor OpenAI immediately replied to PYMNTS’ request for comment.

According to the Bloomberg report, the companies’ partnership has been strained for other reasons as well. Apple has been concerned about OpenAI’s user privacy protections, its effort to make its own devices, and its recruitment of engineers from Apple’s hardware team.

Apple announced its partnership with OpenAI in June 2024, saying ChatGPT would be integrated into iOS, macOS and iPadOS and, with the user’s permission, would be ready to tag in when Siri tapped out. At the same time, Apple said it would be willing to work with other AI models down the line.

The companies expanded their relationship a year later, in June, when Apple said its visual intelligence feature would be able to analyze images and text on an iPhone’s screen, while users could also ask ChatGPT for more information about what they’re looking at.

OpenAI acquired a device startup, Jony Ive’s io, in May 2025 for $6.4 billion. OpenAI said at the time that a new generation of devices were in order for the AI era.

In December, it was reported that dozens of Apple employees had moved to OpenAI and other companies and that they included engineers and designers with experience in areas such as audio, watch design and robotics.

On May 5, it was reported that Apple plans to offer third-party AI models alongside its own in-house models, allowing users of its software to choose the model they want to use for tasks such as generating and editing text and images.