OpenAI Explores Legal Options Amid Tensions With Apple
As AI advances both cybersecurity and cyberthreats, OpenAI has also found itself in the middle of a security issue.
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AI startup OpenAI may encounter an additional legal challenge, separate from its dispute with Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Currently, the company’s two-year partnership with Apple has not met expectations, and it is considering legal action.
According to Bloomberg, company lawyers are considering several steps, including potentially sending the iPhone maker a notice alleging breach of contract without necessarily filing a full lawsuit at this time.
The two companies entered into a deal in 2024 that paved the way for integrating OpenAI’s ChatGPT into Apple’s devices. This allowed users to access the chatbot’s results through Siri and to sign up for ChatGPT memberships directly from the iOS settings menu.
The AI startup was optimistic that the move would play a key role in boosting ChatGPT subscriptions and lead to deeper integration across Apple apps. The relationship between the two tech players has been strained, with reports suggesting the ChatGPT-maker is attempting to stall the renegotiation of the deal.
The news comes as Apple plans to move forward with its strategy of enabling users to select from third-party AI models, potentially eroding OpenAI’s unique role within Apple’s software.
It will be implemented across iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27 this fall.
The report further clarified, citing an OpenAI executive, that this move was not the driving force behind its decision to pursue a legal route, since the partnership was not meant to be exclusive from the start.
Notably, Google’s Gemini is expected to power Apple’s revamped Siri, coming this year—a plan separate from ChatGPT integration.
Meanwhile, the AI startup, apart from its legal developments, is also embroiled in security and technical concerns. As AI advances, both cybersecurity and cyber threats are evolving, leaving OpenAI in the middle of a security issue.
Earlier this week, two employees were impacted after an open-source library on their devices was compromised. OpenAI confirmed the impact in an official blog. Following an internal investigation, they “found no evidence that OpenAI user data was accessed, that our production systems or intellectual property were compromised, or that our software was altered.”
This incident follows an April compromise, in which a GitHub Actions workflow used in the macOS app-signing process downloaded and executed a malicious version of Axios. The security issue did not impact OpenAI data.
It reflects a broader trend in which attackers are increasingly targeting shared software dependencies and development tools rather than a single company at a time.
