Apple brings generative AI to iPhone, opens Siri to ChatGPT

Apple has made artificial intelligence the centerpiece of its WWDC 2024 conference. The company unveiled Apple Intelligence, a suite of generative features built into iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia, and announced a partnership with OpenAI to bring ChatGPT to Siri and its writing tools.

The announcement matters for a simple reason: Apple is not presenting AI as a standalone app or a chatbot users have to seek out. It wants AI to work within the features millions of people already use to write, search for photos, manage notifications and talk to Siri.

AI designed around personal data

Apple Intelligence combines models that run directly on the device with requests sent to servers when a task requires more computing power. The company calls this infrastructure Private Cloud Compute: servers running on Apple chips that, it says, will process requests without retaining user data and use software that independent researchers will be able to inspect.

That distinction matters. AI assistants typically need access to email, calendars, documents and messages to be genuinely useful, but that same information is especially sensitive. Apple is trying to turn privacy into a competitive advantage over services that centralize such data in the cloud.

The system will initially be available in U.S. English and arrive in beta this fall. It will be compatible with the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, as well as iPads and Macs with an M1 chip or later. That leaves out a large share of current iPhones: owning a recent phone will not be enough if it lacks the required processor.

Text, images and a context-aware Siri

The most immediate features are Writing Tools, which can rewrite, proofread and summarize text in apps such as Mail, Notes, Pages and many third-party applications. Users will be able to request a change in tone, turn a draft into more concise copy or generate a summary of a message thread.

Apple also unveiled Image Playground, a feature for generating illustrations in styles such as animation, illustration and sketch. It is joined by Genmoji, which lets users create emojis from a description. In Photos, AI will be able to remove background elements and create memory videos from a written prompt.

The most ambitious overhaul affects Siri. The assistant will be able to maintain the thread of a conversation, understand references to items displayed on screen and use information spread across apps. Apple showed, for example, requests to find flight details sent by email and then check the time of a reservation.

This is more than an upgrade for answering questions: the goal is for Siri to take action across apps. The company said this capability will roll out gradually over the coming year, an important caveat because coordinating actions involving personal data is considerably more complex than summarizing text.

ChatGPT joins as a fallback, not the primary assistant

When Apple Intelligence or Siri cannot handle a request on their own, they will be able to offer to send it to ChatGPT, initially powered by GPT-4o. Users will see a confirmation prompt before sharing the question or documents with OpenAI.

ChatGPT will also be integrated with Writing Tools to draft or transform text. Apple said it can be used without creating an account and that IP addresses will be hidden; people who already have a paid ChatGPT subscription will be able to connect their account to access the features included with their plan.

The partnership is significant for both companies. For Apple, it avoids having to build its own response to every open-ended or creative query from day one. For OpenAI, it puts ChatGPT inside Apple’s operating systems, although the experience will still be presented as a device feature rather than as a rival app to Siri.

The real test will be delivering beyond the stage

Apple is arriving later than Microsoft, Google and Samsung to the race to bring generative AI to computers and phones. Its strategy is not to compete for the most visible chatbot, but to turn AI into a layer that understands the user’s context and works with fewer steps.

The approach could prove more practical than a standalone assistant if Siri truly understands what is on screen and can connect information across apps. But it also requires Apple to show that these automations are reliable, that cloud requests uphold the promised safeguards and that the features arrive with enough quality for everyday use.

The beta launch, limited to U.S. English, will make it possible to assess that balance first. For everyone else, the big question is no longer whether Apple will bring generative AI to its devices, but when it will reach their languages and how much of the promise shown today will be available from the initial launch.