OpenAI has revealed that its partnership with Apple delivered disappointing results. According to a recent court filing, ChatGPT’s integration with Siri attracted fewer users than the company originally expected.
The disclosure emerged during an ongoing antitrust lawsuit involving Elon Musk’s SpaceXAI and OpenAI. Although Apple has exited the case following a settlement, the remaining dispute has exposed new details about its AI partnership.
ChatGPT’s Siri Integration Struggled From the Start
Apple introduced ChatGPT support for Siri in December 2024. The integration allowed iPhone users to access OpenAI’s chatbot through Apple’s voice assistant.
However, OpenAI argues that Apple’s implementation limited the feature’s potential. Users had to opt in, while the integration supported only specific interactions.
Consequently, many people had little reason to access ChatGPT through Siri instead of opening its dedicated application.
OpenAI reduced its initial forecasts by January 2025. By March 2026, the company described the integration as persistently underperforming.
Apple’s Privacy Approach Limited Commercial Benefits
The partnership also presented commercial challenges for OpenAI.
Apple’s privacy-focused arrangement prevented OpenAI from collecting user data through Siri interactions or using those conversations for model training.
Therefore, OpenAI primarily hoped Apple’s enormous customer base would attract new ChatGPT users and paying subscribers.
However, the company says the partnership failed to deliver the anticipated growth.
Meanwhile, Apple developed its own Foundation Models using technology derived from Google’s Gemini Frontier model. Despite having no exclusive agreement with OpenAI, Apple did not introduce additional Siri extensions.
Antitrust Lawsuit Reveals Partnership Tensions
The disclosures form part of OpenAI’s defense against SpaceXAI’s antitrust allegations.
SpaceXAI argues that Apple’s arrangement with OpenAI disadvantaged its competing chatbot, Grok. It also claims that Grok’s inclusion in Apple Intelligence could have strengthened X’s broader business.
However, OpenAI disputes that argument and questions the financial assumptions behind the claimed damages.
Furthermore, OpenAI contends that Musk’s companies never sought a comparable Siri integration for Grok. The original agreement did not prevent Apple from working with competing AI providers.
The court has yet to resolve the remaining dispute. Nevertheless, the filing offers an unusual glimpse into the commercial challenges behind Apple’s ambitious AI partnership.
