Apple's former voice assistant "Siri" head reportedly preferred Google's Gemini over OpenAI's ChatGPT as the first artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot to be integrated into Siri.
According to Bloomberg News on the 19th (local time), Apple announced ChatGPT as the first AI chatbot to be integrated into Siri last June, but John Giannandrea, then Apple's head of AI strategy and Siri development, suggested incorporating Gemini instead of ChatGPT.
He is reported to have expressed skepticism about ChatGPT's long-term growth potential. Giannandrea raised concerns that OpenAI's privacy handling practices might not meet Apple's high privacy standards, according to Bloomberg.
However, despite the Siri head's suggestion, Apple chose ChatGPT as its first AI chatbot instead of Gemini, announcing it at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) held last June. It began offering ChatGPT features in Siri starting in December.
The reason Apple opted for ChatGPT instead of Gemini is unknown.
Giannandrea, who previously held positions in Google's search and artificial intelligence (AI) institutional sector, has been responsible for overseeing AI, including Siri, since joining Apple in 2018.
However, with Apple recently showing significant lag in the AI competition compared to other rivals, Giannandrea's standing within Apple has markedly weakened.
Apple was originally set to transform Siri into a personalized AI last year, but the launch has been delayed, and the release this year is uncertain.
As a result, Apple detached the Siri development institutional sector from Giannandrea's leadership in March. It is also reported that a secretive robot project division currently under development by Apple will be transferred to another institutional sector.
Since last year, Apple has been in negotiations with Google to integrate Gemini into Siri, but no official announcement has been made yet.
Sundar Pichai, Google's Chief Executive Officer (CEO), recently noted, "I hope to sign a contract with Apple to integrate Gemini into the iPhone by mid-year."
Bloomberg reported that Apple is diversifying its AI network rather than relying solely on one AI, and while ChatGPT was introduced first, there are possibilities that more AI models will be added to Siri and other Apple products in the future.