According to a new report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple will announce at WWDC on June 9 that it will open its Apple Intelligence AI models to third-party developers.
A new software development kit and related frameworks will allow apps to integrate and build upon the same large language models that Apple uses across iOS, iPadOS, and macOS.
What’s new?
The rollout of Apple Intelligence has been lackluster, to say the least. Currently, users with compatible devices have access to features like notification summaries, writing suggestions, and image generation.
Until now, developers have been unable to integrate with the foundational models themselves but rather with a limited set of user-facing tools like Genmoji, Image Playground, and the system-wide Writing Tools.
Fortunately, that’s about to change. According to Gurman, Apple’s initial rollout will give developers access to the on-device, smaller-scale versions of its AI models. That is to say, developers won’t have access to Apple’s cloud-based models, which are still running on the company’s own servers. In practice, this should translate to a faster and more private interaction, but less powerful.
The money angle
Gurman also notes this could help Apple financially, especially with App Store revenue under pressure from regulators:
A surge in apps may also have a financial benefit. Apple takes a cut of revenue for subscriptions within apps themselves. But the App Store is under pressure from regulators globally. A US judge ruled last month that Apple must allow developers to steer customers to the web to complete purchases, bypassing the company’s revenue-sharing system. A wave of new apps could soften the blow of losing out on some current sales.
Making the best of the situation
This move appears to be a direct attempt to energize the Apple Intelligence ecosystem and make up for hugely important lost time. While rivals like OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic have raced (and are still accelerating) ahead with increasingly capable foundation models and developer platforms, Apple’s limited AI rollout has been… bumpy.
Some early features, like headline summaries, had to be paused after factual mistakes caused backlash. Others, like Genmoji, have struggled to meet expectations despite Apple’s heavy campaigns promoting the feature.
By opening up its AI stack to developers, says Gurman, Apple might be looking to mirror the early success of the App Store: if Apple makes it easy enough for developers to use its new capabilities, it can quickly amass a large base of innovative, AI-powered experiences that are exclusive to its platforms.
Do you think opening up Apple Intelligence to developers will help Apple catch up in the AI race? Let us know in the comments.
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