Report: Apple plans AI functions as paid services
Apple wants to provide the first Apple Intelligence functions free of charge. In future, however, the company plans to charge for some functions.
(Image: Apple)
While the first Apple Intelligence functions presented are apparently to be available free of charge to all users with suitable devices, there are allegedly plans in Cupertino to only offer future functions for an additional charge. According to a media report, Apple is considering introducing a subscription in the style of iCloud+.
As is well known, the services business is becoming increasingly important for Apple. In view of the growing hardware fatigue in the IT sector, it is becoming an increasingly important pillar that can compensate for possible declines in sales. In the most recent quarterly figures, services were an important growth factor in Apple's balance sheet with an increase of 14 percent to 23.9 billion dollars. Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman, who has sources at Apple, reported that Apple Park is therefore considering monetizing its own AI - just as competitors such as OpenAI and Anthropic have been doing for some time.
Apple also wants to earn from the others
As with iCloud, there would then be free basic access, which includes 5 GB of storage. Anyone wanting additional functions would then have to pay a monthly surcharge. With iCloud+, there are currently five tariff levels between 50 GB and 12 TB. In addition to extra storage, buyers also receive other functions such as iCloud Private Relay or HomeKit Secure Video.
However, Apple is also considering acting as an intermediary for other AI providers. For example, the iPhone manufacturer expects revenue shares when Apple users use ChatGPT, Claude and Google Gemini via Intelligence. Until now, their developers have had to offer their services via their own app in Apple's App Store. In future, they could enter into cooperations with Apple and thus be offered at system level by voice assistant Siri, said Gurman. The Bloomberg reporter expects the collaboration with Google to be announced in the fall, when the final versions of iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia are released.
More pressure on the EU issue
However, Apple's ambitions to make money with AI also cast the disputes with the European Union in a different light. Apple held out the prospect that it might not be possible to launch Intelligence in the EU this year due to regulatory uncertainties. Support for local languages was considered unlikely anyway. However, if Apple Intelligence does not come to the EU in the medium term, Apple would not only suffer damage to its image in view of the planned monetization, but would also suffer losses in view of the importance of the economic area.
(mki)
