Microsoft drops thirteen billion or something crazy on OpenAI, then watches OpenAI compete with Office 365 and Azure AI services. Apple lets ChatGPT into iOS and suddenly looks like idiots because Siri can't even set a timer correctly while ChatGPT writes code.
Both companies are now scrambling to build "strategic hedges" because they're getting played by their AI suppliers.
Why Microsoft is Screwed
Microsoft's MAI models aren't "strategic diversification" - they're damage control. OpenAI was supposed to be Microsoft's AI partner, not their competitor. Instead, OpenAI is building productivity tools that directly compete with Teams, Office 365, and Azure AI.
The MAI models are Microsoft admitting they need an exit strategy. When your biggest AI investment starts eating your lunch, you build alternatives or you die. Microsoft learned this lesson the hard way with Internet Explorer losing to Chrome and Windows Phone getting destroyed by iPhone.
The real question is whether Microsoft can build competitive AI models when a lot of their AI talent has probably moved to OpenAI and Anthropic. I know at least three senior engineers who left Azure Cognitive Services for OpenAI in 2023. Hard to build your own AI when your best engineers are working for the competition and probably signing non-competes that make it even messier.
Apple's 15-Year Siri Failure Finally Gets Attention
Apple's Siri "World Knowledge Answers" project is their admission that they've failed at AI for over a decade. Siri launched in 2011 and still can't handle basic questions that ChatGPT nails every time.
The March 2026 timeline seems optimistic. Apple has been promising better Siri for years and consistently failed to deliver anything more sophisticated than "play my music" and "set a timer for 5 minutes." Now they're claiming they'll build an AI search engine that competes with Google in 18 months?
Apple's announced machine learning improvements before - Core ML updates every year, promised personalized AI in 2024. Meanwhile, Siri still can't fucking understand "turn off the lights in the living room" half the time. Last week I asked it to set a timer and it started playing music, then when I said "no, set a timer for 10 minutes" it opened the Timer app but didn't actually start anything. Fifteen years of this bullshit.
Wall Street analysts pushing for acquisitions are probably right - Apple should buy Perplexity or another AI search company instead of pretending they can build competitive AI from their current Siri team.
What This Actually Means (Corporate War is Coming)
The brief period of AI cooperation between big tech companies is over. Microsoft, Apple, Google, Meta, and Amazon are all building competing AI platforms because nobody trusts their competitors anymore.
This is bad news for OpenAI. When your biggest customers start building alternatives to your product, you're in trouble. Microsoft has Azure's compute power and enterprise relationships. Apple has 1.5 billion active devices and complete hardware control. Google has search data and advertising revenue.
What does OpenAI have? Expensive GPU clusters and a $300 billion valuation based on the assumption their customers won't abandon them. That assumption is looking shakier every quarter.
The Reality Check: Most Will Fail
Microsoft and Apple building their own AI models doesn't mean they'll succeed. Microsoft has a history of building competing products that nobody wants - remember Zune? Windows Phone? Cortana? Apple's track record with services like Apple Maps (which told people to drive into lakes) and Siri suggests they're not great at complex software projects.
The most likely outcome? Microsoft and Apple spend billions building mediocre AI models they use internally while still paying OpenAI and Anthropic for the good stuff. Meanwhile, users get stuck with worse AI experiences because corporate politics trumps technical competence.
But hey, at least executives get to say they're "reducing third-party dependencies" while burning through shareholders' money. That's what really matters in corporate America.