Phil Schiller to Represent Apple as Board ‘Observer’ at OpenAI
Mark Gurman, reporting for Bloomberg last week:
Apple Inc. will get an observer role on OpenAI’s board as part of
a landmark agreement announced last month, further tightening ties
between the once-unlikely partners. Phil Schiller, the head of
Apple’s App Store and its former marketing chief, was chosen for
the position, according to people familiar with the situation. As
a board observer, he won’t be serving as a full-fledged director,
said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter
isn’t public. […]
The board observer role will put Apple on par with Microsoft
Corp., OpenAI’s biggest backer and its main AI technology
provider. The job allows someone to attend board meetings without
being able to vote or exercise other director powers. Observers,
however, do gain insights into how decisions are made at the
company.
“Trust, but verify” the adage goes. This board observer role gives Apple a position to verify that OpenAI remains the trustworthy partner Apple thinks they are. I can think of no one better than Schiller for this position. Perhaps you’re no fan of Schiller’s stewardship of the App Store, but he’s long been a staunch proponent of user privacy at Apple. He’s significantly responsible for Apple’s shift toward making “privacy” a major selling point of their products and services.
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Mark Gurman, reporting for Bloomberg last week:
Apple Inc. will get an observer role on OpenAI’s board as part of
a landmark agreement announced last month, further tightening ties
between the once-unlikely partners. Phil Schiller, the head of
Apple’s App Store and its former marketing chief, was chosen for
the position, according to people familiar with the situation. As
a board observer, he won’t be serving as a full-fledged director,
said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter
isn’t public. […]
The board observer role will put Apple on par with Microsoft
Corp., OpenAI’s biggest backer and its main AI technology
provider. The job allows someone to attend board meetings without
being able to vote or exercise other director powers. Observers,
however, do gain insights into how decisions are made at the
company.
“Trust, but verify” the adage goes. This board observer role gives Apple a position to verify that OpenAI remains the trustworthy partner Apple thinks they are. I can think of no one better than Schiller for this position. Perhaps you’re no fan of Schiller’s stewardship of the App Store, but he’s long been a staunch proponent of user privacy at Apple. He’s significantly responsible for Apple’s shift toward making “privacy” a major selling point of their products and services.