OpenAI’s New Acquisition Paves Way for OS Integration
▼ Summary
– OpenAI has acquired Software Applications Incorporated (SAI), known for the team behind Apple’s Shortcuts and the recent Sky project on macOS.
– The acquisition aims to integrate Sky’s deep macOS integration and product design into ChatGPT, with the entire SAI team joining OpenAI.
– SAI’s co-founders, Ari Weinstein, Conrad Kramer, and Kim Beverett, previously worked together at Apple after Apple acquired their earlier company, Workflows.
– The SAI team developed Sky, a context-aware AI layer that uses Apple APIs and accessibility features to interpret on-screen content and execute user commands across apps.
– Sky was designed to generate workflows automatically based on user prompts, functioning like a setup-free version of Shortcuts.
OpenAI has strategically acquired Software Applications Incorporated (SAI), a move signaling a deeper push into operating system-level artificial intelligence integration. This purchase brings aboard the talented team behind Sky, an advanced interface layer for macOS that interprets user context and intent. While the financial details remain confidential, the acquisition underscores OpenAI’s commitment to embedding sophisticated AI directly into the core of user experiences.
A company representative emphasized that advancing AI involves more than just boosting its intelligence; it requires creating interfaces that grasp context, adjust to user goals, and operate fluidly. OpenAI intends to incorporate Sky’s seamless macOS integration and refined product design directly into ChatGPT. The entire SAI team, including its leadership, will transition to roles within OpenAI as part of this strategic integration.
The SAI co-founders, Ari Weinstein as CEO, Conrad Kramer as CTO, and Kim Beverett leading product, bring a wealth of relevant experience from their collaborative years at Apple. Their history includes Apple’s prior acquisition of Weinstein and Kramer’s former venture, which developed the automation application Workflows. That technology eventually evolved into the system-wide Shortcuts feature found across Apple’s ecosystem.
After departing Apple, the trio founded SAI to develop Sky. This innovative platform taps into Apple’s native APIs and accessibility frameworks to gather real-time information about what appears on a user’s display. A large language model then processes commands given in everyday language, carrying out multi-step tasks that span different applications. Essentially, Sky functioned as an intelligent, on-demand assistant, similar in spirit to Shortcuts but designed to build complex workflows instantly from simple user instructions, eliminating the need for manual setup.
(Source: Ars Technica)
