Apple x OpenAI honeymoon over — OpenAI lawyers up, ChatGPT loses Siri exclusivity
TL;DR
OpenAI's lawyers are studying legal options against Apple — possibly a breach-of-contract notice, not necessarily a lawsuit. iOS 27 will end ChatGPT's exclusivity in Siri; users can pick Gemini or Claude.
Apple's and OpenAI's partnership has clearly broken. OpenAI lawyers are working with outside counsel to study legal options, potentially including a breach-of-contract notice to Apple — not necessarily a direct lawsuit. Both sides declined to comment.
Where the conflict comes from. OpenAI is unhappy with the commercial returns — actual upside has been well below expectations. Apple's logic is clear too: it can't let a single AI vendor occupy core Siri and iOS positioning. That creates pricing risk, product risk, and strategic exposure. A multi-model strategy lets Apple switch anytime, negotiate better terms, and give users more choice.
iOS 27 ends the exclusivity. Since iOS 18.2, ChatGPT has been the only third-party AI in Apple Intelligence. That ends this September. iOS 27 introduces an Extensions framework — users can switch in Settings between Gemini, Claude, and ChatGPT for requests Siri can't handle natively.
The market data tells the story. ChatGPT web traffic share: January 2025 86.7% → March 2026 56.7%. Dropped 30 percentage points in 14 months. Gemini rose from 6% to 25%, Claude from 2.2% to 6%. In the US mobile market, Claude's app briefly passed ChatGPT in daily actives in March.
OpenAI from «only choice» to «one of several». The era of locking in users via distribution is over — products compete on product.
via Bloomberg / MacRumors
Where the conflict comes from. OpenAI is unhappy with the commercial returns — actual upside has been well below expectations. Apple's logic is clear too: it can't let a single AI vendor occupy core Siri and iOS positioning. That creates pricing risk, product risk, and strategic exposure. A multi-model strategy lets Apple switch anytime, negotiate better terms, and give users more choice.
iOS 27 ends the exclusivity. Since iOS 18.2, ChatGPT has been the only third-party AI in Apple Intelligence. That ends this September. iOS 27 introduces an Extensions framework — users can switch in Settings between Gemini, Claude, and ChatGPT for requests Siri can't handle natively.
The market data tells the story. ChatGPT web traffic share: January 2025 86.7% → March 2026 56.7%. Dropped 30 percentage points in 14 months. Gemini rose from 6% to 25%, Claude from 2.2% to 6%. In the US mobile market, Claude's app briefly passed ChatGPT in daily actives in March.
OpenAI from «only choice» to «one of several». The era of locking in users via distribution is over — products compete on product.
via Bloomberg / MacRumors
