Apple shuns partnership with Meta AI, teams up with OpenAI, Google due to privacy concerns

The electronic device behemoth Apple has reportedly rejected Meta's AI chatbot integration into iPhone citing privacy concerns, a media report said.

A recent report by Bloomberg revealed that the two tech giants that had a brief meet some months ago regarding a tie-up did not collaborate as the idea was dropped then and there.

The companies are not in discussions for an AI partnership involving Meta's Llama chatbot and only held brief talks in March, the report said.

According to the report, Apple was not keen to integrate Llama 3 LLM (Large Language Model) into iPhones, because it does not consider Meta's privacy practices stringent enough.

The report further said that the initial talks happened around the time Apple started to look for deals to use OpenAI's ChatGPT and Alphabet's Gemini in its products.

Earlier in June, Apple unveiled its AI strategy bringing OpenAI's chatbot ChatGPT to its devices and integrating its new "Apple Intelligence" technology across its suite of apps, including virtual assistant Siri.

Meanwhile, Meta AI has rolled out in India and is available in English across the company's apps - WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger.

The chatbot has rolled out in more than 12 countries, including the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

Except for the integration of iOS 18 with ChatGPT, other AI features of the new device will be entirely built by Apple keeping its claim of providing strong privacy intact.