Apple wanted to make its AI models open source, but was reluctant to do so due to fears of public criticism.



Apple has developed an AI system called 'Apple Intelligence,' which includes text generation AI and image generation AI, and has incorporated it into iPhones and Macs.

The Information reported that there were plans to open source these AIs at first, but they were abandoned. This decision is said to have led to the outflow of valuable human resources from Apple.

How Apple's Internal Veto Against Open-Source AI Sparked a Talent Exodus to Meta - WinBuzzer
https://winbuzzer.com/2025/07/22/how-apples-internal-veto-against-open-source-ai-sparked-an-ai-talent-exodus-to-meta-xcxwbn/

Apple Abandoned Plans to Open Source its AI Models | iPhone in Canada
https://www.iphoneincanada.ca/2025/07/22/apple-to-open-source-its-ai-models/

According to Aaron Tilley and others who covered Apple as reporters for the Wall Street Journal, the development team working on Apple's AI models wanted to release some of the models as open source in early 2025. This would demonstrate Apple's technological progress while also allowing them to improve the models with the help of outside researchers.

However, Apple's software chief Craig Federighi was reluctant and canceled the plan to open source it. He was reportedly concerned that the public would think that Apple had compromised. Another reason was that the open source model might not work as expected when actually implemented on the iPhone.

In addition, there were concerns that 'releasing a model that is overwhelming in comparison to other companies could weaken Apple's reputation and expose it to criticism,' and 'there are plenty of models from other companies, so open sourcing Apple's model would not bring about a major change.'



While tech companies like Meta and Google are creating their own open-source AI models and using them to accelerate innovation, Apple keeps everything closed and has a marketing strategy that constantly touts 'seamless, powerful, in-device AI,' highlighting a fundamental cultural difference between Apple and its competitors.

There was backlash within Apple about this decision, and in the weeks that followed, Luomin Pan, head of Apple's foundational model team, moved to Meta, along with key researchers Mark Lee and Tom Gunter. The refusal to open source the software led to a loss of talent, according to Tilly and his colleagues.



According to reports, morale in Apple's AI division is already low due to the long-running problems with Siri, and the refusal to open source it is just one more step.

Apple is attempting to rebuild 'Siri' with a new architecture, but this is full of challenges, and a contextually aware Siri is not expected to be released until spring 2026. In addition, there have been reports that Apple is considering the possibility of outsourcing Siri's core intelligence to competitors such as OpenAI and Anthropic, which has reportedly made the internal team worry that 'years of hard work may be for naught.'



Technology media WinBuzzer said, 'This crisis highlights Apple's fundamental dilemma: Can its integrated, product-first, privacy-focused approach truly compete in an era dominated by large-scale, open, and rapidly evolving AI models? The decision to prioritize confidentiality over science has not only led to a loss of talent, but also the trust of researchers needed to win the AI future. If this fundamental contradiction cannot be resolved, the loss of talent may be just the beginning, and new problems may arise.'

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in Software, Posted by log1p_kr