The board of ChatGPT developer and artificial intelligence trailblazer OpenAI will soon house strange bedfellows as Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL, ETR:APC)’s App Store head Phil Schiller is reportedly stepping into a non-voting position.
If Bloomberg reports are accurate, Schiller will join the board as an observer following Apple’s announcement of ChatGPT integration into Apple devices.
It will put Apple on equal footing with tech rival Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT), which is also represented on the OpenAI board.
Microsoft gained a non-voting seat on the board in November 2023 following a turbulent period that saw OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman sacked and swiftly rehired as chief executive, leading to an executive shakeup.
Sue Desmond-Hellmann, former chief executive officer of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is also on the OpenAI board.
Microsoft was an early backer of OpenAI, having invested billions into the AI firm in 2019.
Non-voting board members have the right to attend closed-door meetings but are not allowed to vote on matters or exert other executive powers.
It means Apple will potentially gain insights into future collaborations between OpenAI and Microsoft.
Through its close relationship with OpenAI, Microsoft has pulled ahead of Apple in the rapidly developing AI sector, leading the latter to play catch up.
In response, Apple used most of its annual Worldwide Developers Conference in June to lay down its AI roadmap.
The Cupertino tech giant’s ChatGPT integration announcement caused a stir at camp Elon Musk, who warned that Apple devices will be non-grata at any of his companies on security grounds.
Musk, who co-founded OpenAI, has since become a vocal critic of the organisation.
“If Apple integrates OpenAI at the OS level, then Apple devices will be banned at my companies. That is an unacceptable security violation,” he Tweeted on 10 June.
It’s patently absurd that Apple isn’t smart enough to make their own AI, yet is somehow capable of ensuring that OpenAI will protect your security & privacy!
Apple has no clue what’s actually going on once they hand your data over to OpenAI. They’re selling you down the river.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 10, 2024