- Have Apple and Meta discussed an AI deal, or is there no AI deal happening between Apple and Meta?
- Yes! Probably. Maybe.
- The real answer can be found by analyzing two conflicting reports from The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg.
News: Apple in talks with big rival Meta about AI deal.
Also in the news: Apple do not have We are in discussions with Meta about an AI deal, as they are a strong competitor.
Which of these stories are true? Technically, both They are all correct.
But my gut feeling is that the second option is more likely, which is that Apple and Meta aren’t planning on doing anything together on AI, or anything else, anytime soon.
Background: The Wall Street Journal published a story on Sunday saying that Meta and Apple were “in talks” about connecting Apple devices to Meta’s AI engine, similar to the deal it already has with OpenAI.
The key here is tense. The Journal said had That talks have taken place is quite remarkable given the years of conflict between the two countries, but the paper didn’t say whether they are still ongoing or heading in any direction.
Then on Monday, Bloomberg reported its own take: Yes, the two companies have had talks, but that was months ago, and nothing has happened, and probably won’t happen, ever.
Not only that, but people at Tim Cook’s company wanted to clarify their position regarding Mark Zuckerberg’s activities, telling Bloomberg (anonymously) that “One of the reasons Apple won’t work with Meta is because it believes its privacy practices aren’t rigorous enough.” Wow!
it’s not impossible Take back that message. Apple’s clear strategy here is to act as a gatekeeper between users and various AI companies. And it’s possible that Meta could one day become one of those companies, just as Apple customers use their iPhones to access Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
Representatives for Apple did not respond to a request for comment, and Meta declined to comment, but Yann LeCun, Meta’s chief AI scientist, reposted the Bloomberg article on Threads on Tuesday, quipping that “it’s their loss.”
So that angle of what it means has been fulfilled. probably Not many.
But if you enjoy conflict (raise your hand), this story has a little bonus pithy bit: not only do we get to watch the Apple folks (anonymously) slam the Meta folks, we get to watch the normally polite tech press slam each other’s reporting.
