Apple Challenges OpenAI and Chooses a Different Path in Artificial Intelligence

At a time when major tech companies are igniting a frantic race to build giant AI models and data centers consuming hundreds of billions, Apple has decided to take a completely different path ... a less costly and more clever one.

Instead of entering a financial drain war with competitors like Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI, Apple chose to play the role of "kingmaker" through a multi-billion dollar deal with Google to integrateGeminismart models into the heart of iPhones, according to a report published by the Financial Times.

* Strategic Partnership ... Not an Arms Race

This step does not mean that Apple will rely on Gemini as it is within the smart "Siri" version, but will repurpose these models in line with its philosophy based on privacy and local performance.

But more importantly, this partnership reflects a radically different vision:

Instead of building everything from scratch, Apple prefers to rent AI power from others, just as it did previously with Google's search engine.

* A Hard Blow to OpenAI

This decision was an indirect slap to OpenAI, which aspired to enhance its presence within Apple's ecosystem through ChatGPT.

But Tim Cook's calculations were different;

OpenAI's ambition to build its own devices made it, from Apple's perspective, a potential competitor rather than a reliable partner.

As for Google, despite being a historical competitor, the relationship between the two parties has previously proven capable of achieving huge gains for both.

* The Numbers Reveal the Difference

The language of numbers clearly explains the strategy:

• Apple spent about 12.7billion dollars on infrastructure during 2025.

• In contrast, Google spent nearly 90billion dollars to build data centers and develop its AI capabilities.

While other companies are burning cash to buy advanced chips from "NVIDIA", Apple maintains high profit margins through a less risky model.

It is worth noting that the search engine deal with Google currently generates about 20billion dollars annually for Apple.

* Betting on "Small AI"

Instead of betting on costly giant models, Apple focuses on small AI models that operate locally on its devices, which achieves:

_ Less energy consumption

_ Greater privacy protection

_ Reduced reliance on cloud data centers

And Apple leaves the race for massive models and their exorbitant costs to its competitors.

* The Open Question

Will Apple succeed in saving billions of dollars and boosting its profits without losing its position in the AI race?

Or will stepping away from leading the race later make it regret leaving the helm to competitors who know only the policy of "unlimited spending"?

Only the coming days will reveal whether Apple has accurately read the future ... or if it chose safety at the expense of leadership.