Thanks to dedicated iCloud plugins, OpenAI's ChatGPT can now use details from your iCloud email inbox to schedule and update events in the Calendar app.
On Tuesday, following the debut of an upgraded M6 iMac and 14-inch MacBook Pro, OpenAI revealed that ChatGPT has gained two new iCloud plugins. As a result, OpenAI has greatly improved ChatGPT's compatibility with iCloud email and the Apple Calendar app.
In short, ChatGPT can now read and check your iCloud inbox, create and manage emails, and more. What's even more impressive is that ChatGPT will be capable of updating events on your iCloud calendar, based on the details it can gather from your iCloud emails.
For iPhone, iPad, and Mac users, this will deliver a more personalized experience with OpenAI's virtual assistant. These new iCloud plugins also make ChatGPT more useful on Apple platforms, even beating previous attempts at integrating iOS and ChatGPT.
Well before the arrival of Siri AI, the iOS 18.2 update introduced support for a so-called ChatGPT extension. This let Siri hand off more advanced queries to ChatGPT, with explicit user approval, of course.
This partnership between Apple and OpenAI eventually became the subject of a lawsuit, during which OpenAI later revealed the ChatGPT extension had been "persistently underperforming." It's ultimately no surprise that OpenAI took the exact opposite route, instead giving its chatbot iCloud plugins.
In an X post, OpenAI says its new iCloud Mail and iCloud Calendar plugins for ChatGPT are "available on all ChatGPT plans," implying they won't be available to users without a subscription. This fact alone already puts ChatGPT at a disadvantage, relative to Siri AI on iOS.
Apple's new-and-improved Siri AI, which debuted with iOS 27, already offers system-wide integration. In essence, the virtual assistant already available on newer iPhones by default can manage your iCloud emails and Calendar events without a fee.
Siri AI also supports integration with other built-in iOS and iCloud-compatible apps, including Notes, Contacts, Calendar, and more. While OpenAI's new iCloud plugins are undoubtedly a step in the right direction, ChatGPT will always fall short of what Siri AI can do on iOS, iPadOS, and macOS.
