Apple joins the board of OpenAI. What it means (also for Microsoft)
Phil Schiller, head of Apple's App Store and former head of marketing, is set to join the board of the Sam Altman-led company
2' min read
2' min read
First the agreement - announced during the last WWDC - to bring ChatGPT to iPhones. Now a further, more structured step that consolidates the relationship: Apple joins the board of OpenAI, placing one of its men as an observer. An absolutely unthinkable move, until a few weeks ago, when the former San Francisco start-up seemed more the prerogative of Microsoft.
Instead, Phil Schiller, head of Apple's App Store and former head of marketing, is set to join the board of the Sam Altman-led company. For him, an observer role.
The move, as mentioned, follows Apple's announcement that it plans to offer ChatGPT in the iPhone, iPad and Mac as part of a suite of artificial intelligence features. The board agreement will come into effect at the end of the year and, according to rumours leaked in recent hours, Schiller has not yet attended any meetings.
The real point of this story, however, is another: The observer role on the board of directors will put Apple on an equal footing with Microsoft, which remains OpenAI's main backer. It is a function that allows them to participate in board meetings, although they do not have voting rights or other board powers. Observers, however, can get an idea of how decisions are made within the company.
This is why Schiller's presence at the meetings seems a bit of a strategic paradox for Microsoft, which has made OpenAI its guiding star when it comes to generative artificial intelligence. What will happen when the OpenAI board discusses the next GenAI tools for Microsoft? The feeling is that Apple's move is absolutely strategic. But it is also true that with OpenAI on board iPhones, the opposite is also true to some extent.
