OpenAI has acquired Software Applications Incorporated (SAI), perhaps best known for the core team that produced what became Shortcuts on Apple platforms. More recently, the team has been working on Sky, a context-aware AI interface layer on top of macOS. The financial terms of the acquisition have not been made public.
“Advances in AI aren't just about advancing intelligence – it's about unlocking it through interfaces that understand context, adapt to your intentions, and work seamlessly,” an OpenAI representative wrote in the company's blog post about the acquisition. The post further specifies that OpenAI plans to “bring Sky's deep macOS integration and product skills into ChatGPT, and all members of the team will join OpenAI.”
This includes SAI co-founders Ari Weinstein (CEO), Conrad Kramer (CTO) and Kim Beverett (Product Lead), all of whom worked together at Apple for several years after Apple acquired Weinstein and Kramer's previous company, which produced an automation tool called Workflows to integrate shortcuts into Apple's software platforms.
SAI's three founders left Apple to work on Sky, which uses Apple APIs and accessibility features to provide context about what's on screen for a large language model; the LLM takes user commands in plain language and executes them in multiple applications. At its best, the tool aimed to be a bit like Shortcuts, but without settings, generating workflows on the fly from user prompts.
