OpenAI is reportedly preparing legal action against Apple; it wouldn’t be the first partner to feel burned
OpenAI is reportedly preparing legal action against Apple; it wouldn’t be the first partner to feel burned
据报道，OpenAI 正准备对苹果采取法律行动；这并非首个感到“被坑”的合作伙伴
OpenAI is so frustrated with Apple over a ChatGPT integration that failed to deliver the subscribers and prominence it expected that the company is now actively exploring legal action against the iPhone maker, Bloomberg News reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. 据彭博社周四援引知情人士的消息报道，OpenAI 对苹果感到非常沮丧，因为 ChatGPT 的集成未能带来预期的订阅用户和市场影响力，该公司目前正积极考虑对这家 iPhone 制造商采取法律行动。
According to Bloomberg, OpenAI has enlisted an outside law firm to work through its options, which could include sending Apple a formal breach-of-contract notice without necessarily escalating to a full lawsuit (at least not immediately). Any legal move would likely wait until after the conclusion of OpenAI’s ongoing trial with Elon Musk. 据彭博社称，OpenAI 已经聘请了一家外部律师事务所来研究各种方案，其中包括向苹果发送正式的违约通知，而不一定（至少不会立即）升级为全面诉讼。任何法律行动都可能要等到 OpenAI 与埃隆·马斯克（Elon Musk）正在进行的审判结束后才会采取。
Still, it’s a reminder of what a difficult partner Apple can be for major software companies. The iPhone is an enormously attractive platform for growth, but it’s fully under Apple’s control — and companies that build there are only guests. From Google to Adobe, there’s a long history of Apple showing guests the door when they seem as if they’re getting too comfortable. TechCrunch has reached out to both OpenAI and Apple for comment. 尽管如此，这再次提醒人们，对于大型软件公司而言，苹果是一个多么难以相处的合作伙伴。iPhone 是一个极具增长吸引力的平台，但它完全处于苹果的控制之下——在上面开发应用的公司只是“客人”。从谷歌到 Adobe，苹果有着悠久的历史：当“客人”看起来过于安逸时，苹果就会请他们离开。TechCrunch 已联系 OpenAI 和苹果寻求置评。
The OpenAI partnership, announced at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June 2024, wove ChatGPT into Apple’s operating systems as an option within Siri and as part of the iPhone’s Visual Intelligence feature (allowing users to use their camera to analyze their surrounds and send photos to ChatGPT with related questions). OpenAI 与苹果的合作关系于 2024 年 6 月在苹果全球开发者大会（WWDC）上宣布，将 ChatGPT 整合进苹果的操作系统中，作为 Siri 的一个选项，并成为 iPhone“视觉智能”（Visual Intelligence）功能的一部分（允许用户使用摄像头分析周围环境，并将照片发送给 ChatGPT 进行相关提问）。
OpenAI, along with industry watchers, expected the deal might eventually funnel billions of dollars in new subscriptions its way and give the company prime real estate across one of the world’s most-used mobile ecosystems. Instead, Bloomberg reports, OpenAI has grown increasingly aggravated, complaining that the integration has been buried, its features hard to find, and that revenue from the tie-up is nowhere close to projections. OpenAI 和行业观察人士曾预计，这笔交易最终可能会为其带来数十亿美元的新订阅收入，并让该公司在全球使用率最高的移动生态系统之一中占据核心位置。然而，据彭博社报道，OpenAI 越来越感到愤怒，抱怨集成入口被埋没、功能难以发现，且合作带来的收入远未达到预期。
“They basically said, ‘OpenAI needs to take a leap of faith and trust us,’” one OpenAI executive told Bloomberg. “It didn’t work out well.” “他们基本上说，‘OpenAI 需要孤注一掷，信任我们，’”一位 OpenAI 高管告诉彭博社。“结果并不理想。”
Apple, for its part, has its own grievances, including concerns about OpenAI’s privacy standards and, according to Bloomberg, irritation over OpenAI’s push into hardware, an effort led by former Apple executives including ex-design chief Jony Ive. 苹果方面也有自己的不满，包括对 OpenAI 隐私标准的担忧，以及据彭博社报道，苹果对 OpenAI 进军硬件领域感到恼火——这一努力由包括前设计主管乔尼·艾维（Jony Ive）在内的前苹果高管领导。
Either way, OpenAI is hardly the first partner of Apple to regret hitching its wagon to the company. Apple has a long history of embracing partners and then alienating them. The most famous case is Google Maps, which was a flagship feature of the original iPhone. It was so central to the device’s appeal that its removal in 2012 — replaced by Apple’s markedly inferior Apple Maps product — became one of the biggest tech fiascos of the decade, prompting a rare public apology from CEO Tim Cook. 无论如何，OpenAI 绝不是第一个后悔与苹果“捆绑”的合作伙伴。苹果有着悠久的历史：先拥抱合作伙伴，随后又疏远他们。最著名的案例是谷歌地图（Google Maps），它曾是初代 iPhone 的旗舰功能。它对该设备的吸引力至关重要，以至于 2012 年将其移除并替换为苹果明显逊色的 Apple Maps 产品时，成为了该十年中最严重的科技惨剧之一，促使首席执行官蒂姆·库克（Tim Cook）罕见地公开道歉。
The friction between the two companies had been building for years at that point, thanks to the rollout of Google’s Android phone a year after the iPhone’s 2007 debut; after Google’s then-CEO Eric Schmidt stepped down from Apple’s board in 2009, that rivalry only intensified. 在那之前，两家公司之间的摩擦已经积累多年，这要归功于谷歌在 2007 年 iPhone 发布一年后推出的 Android 手机；在谷歌时任首席执行官埃里克·施密特（Eric Schmidt）于 2009 年辞去苹果董事会职务后，这种竞争关系进一步加剧。
Adobe has some scar tissue, too. Steve Jobs refused to support Flash on the iPhone and iPad, publishing a famous open letter in 2010 explaining why and effectively dooming the technology. Flash never recovered its footing on mobile. Adobe 也留下了伤疤。史蒂夫·乔布斯（Steve Jobs）拒绝在 iPhone 和 iPad 上支持 Flash，并在 2010 年发表了一封著名的公开信解释原因，实际上判了该技术的死刑。Flash 从此再未能在移动端恢复元气。
Then there’s Spotify, which spent years arguing that Apple leveraged its control over the App Store to disadvantage rival music streaming services after launching Apple Music in 2015. The European Commission agreed, fining Apple nearly €1.8 billion in March 2024. 还有 Spotify，该公司多年来一直辩称，苹果在 2015 年推出 Apple Music 后，利用其对 App Store 的控制权来打压竞争对手的音乐流媒体服务。欧盟委员会对此表示认同，并于 2024 年 3 月对苹果处以近 18 亿欧元的罚款。
Sometimes these rifts can be overcome in the name of commercial interests. Google is now Apple’s AI infrastructure partner, having struck a multiyear deal in January to power the next generation of Apple Intelligence with Gemini models. Apple is paying Google roughly $1 billion a year. 有时，为了商业利益，这些裂痕是可以克服的。谷歌现在是苹果的 AI 基础设施合作伙伴，双方在 1 月份达成了一项多年协议，利用 Gemini 模型为下一代 Apple Intelligence 提供支持。苹果每年向谷歌支付约 10 亿美元。
In the meantime, OpenAI has had its own share of strained relationships lately. Elon Musk’s lawsuit against the company — which accuses OpenAI of abandoning its nonprofit founding mission and operating in bad faith — is currently at trial. The company has also reportedly navigated tensions with Microsoft, its biggest backer and infrastructure partner, as it pushes for greater independence ahead of its own IPO ambitions. 与此同时，OpenAI 最近也面临着紧张的关系。埃隆·马斯克对该公司的诉讼——指控 OpenAI 背弃其非营利性的创始使命并存在恶意经营行为——目前正在审理中。据报道，随着 OpenAI 在 IPO 前寻求更大的独立性，它也一直在处理与最大支持者和基础设施合作伙伴微软之间的紧张关系。