Apple decided not to integrate Meta’s AI into iOS 18 due to privacy-related concerns

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Apple rejected Meta’s offer to include its AI in iOS 18 when it was looking for partners a few months ago. Apparently, Meta proposed the idea and the Cupertino company discarded it after a brief conversation. The reason? Concerns related to user privacy, according to a new report by Mark Gurman published in Bloomberg.

Over the weekend, The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple and Meta were in active talks to integrate Llama, their language model, as part of Apple Intelligence into iOS 18. However, it seems that Apple was never really interested in this idea, and there are currently no ongoing talks for a potential deal.

Apple refused to integrate Llama into iOS 18

While there are no active conversations at the moment, there were previously, when Apple was looking for partners to integrate AI as part of Apple Intelligence. While negotiating with OpenAI and Google, Meta offered Llama, but Apple decided not to continue the talks formally because it doesn’t consider Meta’s privacy practices to be strict enough.

It should be noted that by the end of the year, ChatGPT will be integrated into Siri as part of Apple Intelligence, always respecting users’ privacy and requesting permission before sending requests to OpenAI’s chatbot. On the other hand, Google’s Gemini will also be integrated in the future, although we will have to wait a little longer.

Apple Intelligence will include a set of new features in iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia, including:

1. A new Siri capable of having more natural and written conversations.
2. Siri integration with apps to perform specific tasks and recognize on-screen content.
3. Integration with ChatGPT.
4. Image generation with Image Playgrounds.
5. Emoji creation.
6. Removing objects in photos with Clean up.
7. Determination of priority notifications.
8. New concentration mode to avoid distractions.
9. Creating texts, modifying the tone of emails and generating intelligent responses.
10. Call recording.

Not all of these features will be released in 2024; some are expected in 2025 and initially only in English and only on the iPhone 15 Pro or higher and the iPads and Macs with an M1 processor or higher. Users in the European Union will have to wait longer, as no features will be released in 2024 due to the Digital Markets Act, which requires Apple to release features and then wait for them to be approved. Therefore, work is underway to ensure its smooth launch.

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