In a sign of the strengthening relationship between Apple (AAPL) and OpenAI, following their AI partnership announced at WWDC in June, a top Apple executive will join OpenAI’s non-voting board of directors. First reported by Bloomberg, Apple’s head of App Store and events, Phil Schiller, who has been with the company for nearly 30 years, will join the board later this year.
At its annual developers conference on June 10, Apple said it plans to make OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT available on its devices and integrate it into its virtual assistant Siri and various writing tools. Schiller’s presence on OpenAI’s board will also give the iPhone maker an inside look at the AI company, putting it on par with Microsoft (MSFT), a major investor in OpenAI and an observer on the board. OpenAI declined to comment on the appointment, and Apple did not respond to the Observer’s request for comment.
Schiller’s appointment to the board of directors was not surprising, given his longtime ties to Apple and his public defense of the company against antitrust criticism. In 2020, Schiller left his previous role as chief marketing officer to become one of Apple’s most senior executives as an Apple Fellow, a title that reports directly to CEO Tim Cook and is awarded to Apple employees who have made exceptional contributions to personal computing.
Schiller, a close friend of the late Steve Jobs, joined the company in the 1980s and has been there since 1997. He is now responsible for leading Apple events such as the App Store and the annual WWDC.
According to Bloomberg, Apple is not paying OpenAI for its collaboration. In addition to using ChatGPT, Apple’s new suite of AI features, Apple Intelligence, will use the technology to generate emoji-like images, enhance writing options, and assist with drawing tools. Apple is also reportedly exploring other external AI partners, including Google (GOOGL), Anthropic, and Perplexity, as well as in talks with Chinese companies such as Baidu (BIDU), ALIBABA (BABA) Group, and Baichuan to bring AI to its devices in China, where Google and ChatGPT are not available.
Microsoft and Apple both join OpenAI’s board of directors
Schiller’s appointment brings Apple into the fold of Microsoft, which has Dee Templeton, its vice president of technology, research partnerships and operations, on OpenAI’s board in a non-voting role. Microsoft has partnered with OpenAI since 2019, investing about $13 billion in the partnership to provide computing power to the company and integrate its technology into Microsoft products.
In addition to giving both Apple and Microsoft an inside look at OpenAI’s business operations, the board positions also provide a cushion against any big surprises that may arise at the company. Despite being OpenAI’s largest investor, Microsoft was shocked in November to learn that former OpenAI directors had briefly fired CEO Sam Altman for being insufficiently forthright. Microsoft secured its board position shortly after Altman returned as CEO and OpenAI appointed a new board of directors.
OpenAI’s current Board of Directors consists of the following members:
