AI Outfits Locked Out of the Apple-Google Party
February 3, 2026
Another dinobaby post. No AI unless it is an image. This dinobaby is not Grandma Moses, just Grandpa Arnold.
Mashable wrote an article about selling lots of iPhones. The article “Apple Sells Record Number of iPhones on Simply Staggering Demand” reports:
Apple reported its fiscal first quarter earnings on Thursday, and it beat basically every estimate the experts put out there. In particular, iPhone revenue was $85.27 billion, a 23 percent increase over the same period last year. Apple’s total revenue for the quarter was also a record-breaking $143.8 billion, a 16 percent year-over-year increase.
Members of the disgruntled fraternity Psi AI are not happy. Thanks, Venice.ai. Good enough.
The article add a quote from Tim Apple. He said, “Demand was simply staggering.”
And that explains why the AI deal is important to the Google. Android is on a lot of phones. Apple is on a lot of phones. AI data from those phones will be a lot of real time, information of numerous types.
This means the Google is providing smart software and delivering responses to — pick a number — 85, 90, 95 percent of the mobiles in the world.
The Apple “staggering” describes the painful and possibly near fatal blow to Grok, OpenAI, Anthropic, and the wise old gambler Microsoft. Each of these losers in the Apple dating game must find a way to:
- Get lots of juicy global data and/or metadata. Real time stuff, not the pages from a book I wrote in 1984.
- Find products and services that will pay off debt and generate enough money to pay for leadership bonuses.
- Develop products and services that users want? For example, do I want me-too’s or useful innovations?
Will any of the AI outfits left out in the cold find a way to object to this Apple-Google tie up. On the surface, this is a big win for Google. Plus, it consolidates the relationship between Apple and Google that goes back to Eric Schmidt serving on Apple’s board of directors. Those AI firms on the outside and looking in. Furthermore, the doors to the dance hall are locked. Only certain people are allowed to attend the party?
My hunch is that deal making, partnering, and maybe some lawyering may be taking place and quickly. Each day that goes by, the pressure on those not invited to the party will increase. Microsoft is already doing some hedging. Mr. Musk is thinking about a way to make Grok more relevant now that Telegram is showing interest in non-Elon AI systems. Anthropic is riding the code pony. The Chinese continue to roll out increasingly capable open source AI tools.
Those outside and unable to get into the Apple orchard may find that severe exposure can have dire consequences. Spring is far in the future.
Stephen E Arnold, February 4, 2026
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