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Businesses Apple

Phil Schiller To Join OpenAI Board In 'Observer' Role Following Apple's ChatGPT Deal (9to5mac.com) 7

As reported by Bloomberg, Apple will get an "observer role" on OpenAI's board of directors as part of its partnership to integrate ChatGPT into iOS 18. That role will reportedly be filled by Apple Fellow, Phil Schiller. 9to5Mac reports: Apple having an "observer role" on the OpenAI board matches the role of Microsoft. Schiller will be able to observe and attend board meetings, but will not have any voting power: "The board observer role will put Apple on par with Microsoft, OpenAI's biggest backer and its main AI technology provider. The job allows someone to attend board meetings without being able to vote or exercise other director powers. Observers, however, do gain insights into how decisions are made at the company." The arrangement will take effect later this year, according to Bloomberg. Schiller "hasn't yet attended any meetings" of the OpenAI board and "details of the situation could still change."

Schiller served as Apple's long-time marketing chief before transitioning to an Apple Fellow role in 2020. In this role, Schiller continues to lead the App Store and Apple events and reports directly to Apple CEO Tim Cook. Schiller is also leading Apple's efforts to defend the App Store against antitrust allegations around the world.

Phil Schiller To Join OpenAI Board In 'Observer' Role Following Apple's ChatGPT Deal

Comments Filter:
  • "observer". More like copier/spy.
  • Phil will be on the board to observe and evaluate whether or not OpenAI could be a suitable acquisition target for Apple. As we all know, Apple doesn't have much going for it in the cloud AI space, so this would be hugely valuable to them and they have the cash on hand to do it - without equity, even.

    This will probably accelerate Microsoft's plans to do the same thing, though Microsoft has less cash and less of a need since they do have more in-house cloud AI expertise.

    In the end, this likely points to an O

    • In part because Apple actually values user privacy (or at least pays lip service to it), while OpenAI does not

      Be careful what you wish for. In the old days Google was a decent tech innovator. Then they acquired DoubleClick, one of the most reviled companies around the Internet back then. Everyone rejoiced, thinking Google would make them quietly disappear. Instead, Doubleclick's ideas took over Google's soul and turned it into the unethical world spying behemoth that it is today. The old search engine com

  • It would be wise of OpenAI to learn from the past [medium.com].

Thus spake the master programmer: "When a program is being tested, it is too late to make design changes." -- Geoffrey James, "The Tao of Programming"

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