OpenAI Court Filings Say ChatGPT's Siri Integration Was 'Dramatically Underperforming'

The filings were made in relation to OpenAI's ongoing dispute with xAI. In the documents, OpenAI alleges that, by the time xAI filed its complaint against OpenAI, 'it was clear that Apple's integration of ChatGPT was dramatically underperforming.' The papers go on to imply this was not a one-off failure. Instead, OpenAI alleges, the Apple integration was 'persistently underperforming.'

Apple added ChatGPT integration to Siri in December 2024, but the feature required a multi-step opt-in process. That friction could be one reason for the substandard performance of the link-up, TechRadar reported, with users slowed down in their attempts to use OpenAI's tool. Much of that section of the court filings is redacted, making it difficult to know exactly what was going on between Apple and OpenAI. From OpenAI's perspective, the results were severely underwhelming.

When Apple Intelligence first launched, Apple gave users an option to tap into ChatGPT if they needed something more powerful. For example, this was an option in Visual Intelligence, providing extra context and help with images shot with an iPhone camera. Yet OpenAI's legal filing makes clear that barely anyone was using any of ChatGPT's tie-ins with Apple Intelligence. OpenAI describes the effect the integration had on competitors, such as xAI, as being 'indisputably de minimis.' It added that its own expert, Dr. Catherine Tucker, calculated 'the share of GenAI consumers who accessed ChatGPT through Apple Intelligence' and found it to be 'consistent with OpenAI's internal view that Apple Intelligence saw minimal usage.'

That hints the problem might not have been limited to ChatGPT's integration with Apple devices, but with Apple Intelligence as a whole. Apple's AI system was underdone when it first arrived and lagged behind its rivals, according to the report. First impressions matter, and if most people were left unconvinced by Apple Intelligence, ChatGPT might have suffered the knock-on effects among Apple's customers.

Several explanations remain unresolved. Did ChatGPT lose out because Apple fans had to dive into the Settings app, find the relevant section and wade through several steps to enable ChatGPT? Did Siri's limitations drag ChatGPT down with it? Or did users simply prefer to launch ChatGPT's standalone app instead? The filings do not provide an answer.

Siri is now getting a glow-up under the Siri AI banner, and Apple appears to want a fresh start for its AI efforts. TechRadar noted that Google's Gemini AI now powers much of what Siri AI can do, while rival services such as ChatGPT have also found their way into iOS. It may be that things would have been different for OpenAI had it integrated with the more powerful Siri AI rather than the underbaked Apple Intelligence. With Siri AI righting many of the wrongs of Apple Intelligence's fudged launch, OpenAI may be left ruing what might have been.