After OpenAI aimed to disrupt Google’s browser dominance with its own browser, it now plans to invade Apple’s macOS with its recent acquisition of Sky. Sky’s background is pretty interesting. This team was originally acquired by Apple, but who would’ve thought they’d end up being poached by OpenAI. About a decade ago, four developers from the Apple community formed a team to create an automation tool for the iOS platform called Workflow. This product was quite popular among developers. Later, in 2017, Apple acquired the product and the team, rebranding it as Shortcuts. In 2023, two of the original Workflow members left Apple and started a new company. They planned to launch a natural language interface tool for macOS called Sky and even brought on a senior Apple product manager as a co-founder (the image shows her demonstrating Siri Shortcuts at an Apple event). As for what Sky actually is, there’s no detailed information yet. But considering their background and OpenAI’s technical capabilities, it’s likely a natural language tool for executing tasks on macOS, or even full automation—essentially an OS-level AI Agent. These kinds of tech solutions are bound to clash with Apple’s privacy-first principles. But if they can truly save users a lot of time and boost productivity, for some people, privacy might not be the top priority anymore. More thoughts: https://newshacker.me/story?id=45684236