According to sources familiar with the situation, Apple Inc. rejected Meta Platforms Inc.'s attempts to integrate the social networking company's AI chatbot into the iPhone many months ago. Furthermore, as per the people, the two businesses are not in negotiations about deploying Meta's Llama chatbot in an AI relationship and only had brief discussions in March. The discussion of a relationship did not progress to a formal stage, and Apple has no current intentions to integrate Llama.

The earliest discussions took place around the time Apple began negotiating partnerships to incorporate OpenAI's ChatGPT and Alphabet Inc.'s Gemini into its products. The iPhone maker revealed the ChatGPT arrangement earlier this month, saying it planned to provide Gemini in the future.

According to the sources, Apple opted not to pursue formal Meta negotiations in part because it does not believe the company's privacy practices are stringent enough. Apple has spent years condemning Meta's technology, and incorporating Llama into the iPhone would have been a striking departure.

Apple regards ChatGPT as a superior service. Meanwhile, Google is currently a search partner in Apple's Safari web browser, so a future Gemini agreement would strengthen that relationship. 

On Sunday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the two corporations were discussing an AI alliance. On June 10, Apple revealed a suite of AI technologies during its Worldwide Developers Conference. The new technology, known as Apple Intelligence, includes homegrown capabilities for summarizing notifications, transcribing voice notes, and creating unique emoji. 

However, Apple's chatbot technology is not as advanced as competitors', forcing the company to seek out partnerships. The company also anticipates that users would want to be able to move between multiple chatbots based on their needs, just as they might switch between Google and Microsoft Corp.'s Bing for searches.

According to the sources, Apple is still in talks with AI firm Anthropic about including its chatbot as an option. Apple Intelligence will be available later this year as part of iPhone, iPad, and Mac operating system updates. 

The current agreement with OpenAI does not entail money exchange, but Apple will allow paying ChatGPT subscribers to access their subscriptions through the iOS operating system. This might create cash for OpenAI, a portion of which could go to Apple in the form of App Store commissions.

Meta and Apple were on better terms a decade ago, when the iPhone maker was integrating Facebook into iOS. However, the businesses have become bitter rivals in recent years, battling for AI, home gadgets, and mixed-reality headsets.