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Apple’s new AI-powered Siri will get ChatGPT integration with the next iOS 18 update but will it be free for everyone?
The next iOS 18 update will show us if Apple can offer AI for free.
Apple confirmed its deal with OpenAI for ChatGPT on iOS 18 during the WWDC 2024 in June this year. The company didn’t talk about the cost of the deal, for which, reportedly, Apple is not paying OpenAI anything. But the latest developments around iOS 18.2 confirm what we had suspected earlier.
Apple’s free AI features with the iOS 18 updates will not be free after all. Yes, the Apple Intelligence features that the company has been touting, along with the new look Siri, their integration with ChatGPT is going to come with limits, unless you are happy to pay for the OpenAI chatbot.
Apple AI Features Are Not Totally Free: Here’s What It Means
If you have glanced through the new iOS 18.2 beta version, the ChatGPT integration with Siri is making its debut on the iPhone. But in the settings section, you will see a ChatGPT daily limit tab given, and along with it you get the option to get the paid ChatGPT Plus plan. What this means is that OpenAI is adhering to its usual policy of free ChatGPT features and the unlimited access to its advanced capabilities with the ChatGPT Plus version.
iPhone users, especially those using the 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max or the new iPhone 16 series models, will have to either invest in ChatGPT Plus which comes to around $20 (Rs 1,680 approx) per month, or be happy with the limits put on the AI chatbot.
This is where both Apple and OpenAI are looking to make merry. While the former will happily get people to upgrade to its latest premium iPhones, OpenAI can incentivise these buyers to buy the paid ChatGPT version to make the best of their devices. In case you were wondering what the free and paid ChatGPT versions offer, we have listed them down to make things easier for you:
Free ChatGPT
OpenAI puts a daily limit on the number of queries you can ask ChatGPT, and once the limit is over, the AI chatbot answers in the basic version which is not very helpful. You also get to use DALL-E 3 to make two AI images per day.
Paid ChatGPT
– You can activate the ChatGPT 4o voice mode
– Support for 5x more queries
– Higher limit on photo and file uploads
– AI-generated images support
– Web browsing
The iOS 18.2 update will be coming out in early December as per reports, and we might then see how many people actually make use of this Siri-ChatGPT connection.