Apple has held talks with longtime rival Meta about integrating Meta's generative AI model into Apple Intelligence. This was reported by the Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter. The negotiations highlight the unusual alliances forming between major tech companies in the era of artificial intelligence.

Apple, which has so far lagged behind in the field of generative AI, has developed its own smaller AI models but announced that it will rely on partners for more complex tasks. At the introduction of Apple Intelligence at the Worldwide Developers Conference earlier this month, OpenAI's ChatGPT was presented as the first partner.

We wanted to start with the best," said Apple's software chief Craig Federighi, adding that ChatGPT "is the best choice for our users today." Apple is also aiming to integrate Google's Gemini.

Here is the translated heading to English:

"In addition to Google and Meta, AI startups Anthropic and Perplexity have also held talks with Apple to integrate their generative AI models into Apple Intelligence. If these partnerships materialize, Apple customers could choose which external AI models they want to use alongside Apple's internal systems.

The discussions between Apple and Meta are particularly noteworthy because the two companies have often been in conflict in the past, especially regarding privacy and advertising. Meta released its major language model Llama 2 in 2023 and the latest version, Llama 3, in April 2024. A partnership with Apple would bolster Meta's efforts in the AI race within the tech industry.

In discussions with other AI companies, Apple does not aim for one party to pay the other. Instead, AI companies can sell paid subscriptions for their services through Apple Intelligence. Apple would retain a share of the subscription revenues, similar to the App Store.

The negotiations are not yet complete and could fail. A deal with Apple would allow AI companies to massively distribute their products, but it is unclear how large the financial gain would be. OpenAI will offer a free version of ChatGPT through Apple Intelligence, but users can also link a premium ChatGPT account with their Apple device.

Gene Munster, long-time Apple analyst and managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management, anticipates that the usage of ChatGPT will significantly increase through the partnership with Apple. He estimates that 10 to 20 percent of Apple users might opt for a premium AI subscription, which could bring in billions of dollars for AI companies.

A partnership with Meta would strengthen the company's position in the tech industry and could be seen as a rare peace offering between the social media giant and the iPhone maker. Meta, which suffered significant revenue losses due to Apple's privacy changes in 2021, could gain significant recognition in the field of artificial intelligence through this cooperation.

Through discussions with a number of AI companies, Apple avoids becoming too dependent on OpenAI. However, it remains to be seen how open Apple will make its new AI platform to external AI companies. These deals currently need to be negotiated individually, in contrast to the App Store, where developers can submit their apps for approval relatively freely.

Apple wants to offer various AI options because users might prefer different models for different tasks, Federighi explained at the developer conference. "People will want to tap into expertise that might not be part of our core," he said.

This development marks a significant step for Apple, which seeks to reposition itself in the highly competitive technology landscape. The coming months will show how these partnerships will influence the dynamics of the AI industry and what benefits they will bring to users.