Apple will get an executive on the OpenAI board of directors
Kyiv • UNN
Apple and OpenAI have reached an agreement under which Apple employee Phil Schiller will serve on OpenAI's board of directors as an observer, allowing him to attend meetings but not vote on decisions.
Phil Schiller will be given the role of OpenAI observer and will be able to attend meetings of the organization's board of directors. UNN citing The Verge.
Details
Phil Schiller, head of the App Store and former chief marketing officer, will serve on the board as an observer on the OpenAI board.
Context
Apple and OpenAI have struck a deal that will see ChatGPT integrated into Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhones by the end of the year. Apple employee Phil Schiller will oversee the deal.
Help
The observer role is an unofficial position that will allow Phil Schiller to attend and contribute to OpenAI meetings as a participant, but not vote in decision making. On the other hand, OpenAI has also appointed an observer to accompany the Apple representative in this new endeavor.
No money is currently involved in the partnership, though Apple is expected to receive a percentage of ChatGPT subscriptions made through its platforms in the future.
Supplement
An observer role on the board would put Apple in the same position as Microsoft, OpenAI's biggest backer and a major supplier of AI technology, which could create some tension.
Given that Microsoft's main AI partner is OpenAI, and part of its AI strategy comes from Altman's company, the presence of its main competitor, Apple, at the same table where these decisions are made will not be easy.
Microsoft may want to exclude Schiller from some of the discussions, which is common in meetings like this when conversations are considered sensitive.