OpenAI buys Sky, an AI interface for Mac

Summary

OpenAI announced on Thursday it has acquired Software Applications, Inc., the makers of an AI-powered natural language interface for Mac computers called Sky. The software product, which had not been released to the public, is designed to work alongside you throughout your day, as you use apps on the computer, writing, planning, coding, and more. Similar to AI browsers, Sky can see what’s on the your screen and take action in your apps for you. The move is a significant step toward embedding OpenAI’s technology into consumers’ everyday lives and within businesses that run on Mac. “We’ve always wanted computers to be more empowering, customizable, and intuitive. With LLMs, we can finally put the pieces together. That’s why we built Sky, an AI experience that floats over your desktop to help you think and create. We’re thrilled to join OpenAI to bring that vision to hundreds of millions of people,” Software Applications co-founder and CEO Ari Weinstein said in a statement. Notably, the team behind Sky had another prominent exit before this. Weinstein and Conrad Kramer previously co-founded Workflow, which they sold to Apple, where it became the technology now known as Shortcuts. Both continued to work at Apple for several years before leaving to found Software Applications in August 2023. Sky’s third co-founder and COO, Kim Beverett, was a senior program and product manager at Apple, where she spent nearly 10 years working on technology like Safari, WebKit, Privacy, Messages, Mail, Phone, FaceTime, and SharePlay. Apple, which has so far been behind on AI, is expected to launch an overhauled Siri with AI smarts next year. Apple has already shipped other features that use its AI tech known as Apple Intelligence, including writing helpers, live translation, image creation, visual search, and more. It’s also working with OpenAI to shuffle off queries Siri can’t answer to ChatGPT. Apple Intelligence works across platforms, including Mac. Techcrunch event San Francisco | Oc...