Apple is restructuring its AI strategy to function more like its App Store, positioning itself as a platform for third-party AI services rather than building its own large language models, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reporting on March 29, 2026. The shift represents a departure from the company’s initial Siri-centric AI approach.
Under the revised strategy, Apple would create an AI integration layer within iOS and macOS where multiple AI providers can offer their services. This mirrors the App Store model that generated over $85 billion in developer revenue in 2024, leveraging Apple’s device ecosystem as a distribution channel rather than competing directly on model quality.
The move comes as Apple has reportedly concluded that competing head-to-head with OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic on foundation model development does not align with its core strengths in hardware design, ecosystem integration, and user experience. The company is also discontinuing the Mac Pro, according to the same report.
Apple has approximately 2.2 billion active devices worldwide, making it the largest potential distribution platform for AI services. If the company implements a revenue-sharing model similar to its App Store commission structure, it could capture significant value from the AI ecosystem without bearing the compute costs of model training and inference.
