Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Monday that he would ban Apple devices from his companies if the iPhone maker proceeds with integrating OpenAI’s ChatGPT at the operating system (OS) level.
“If Apple integrates OpenAI at the OS level, then Apple devices will be banned at my companies. That is an unacceptable security violation,” Mr. Musk stated on X.
Mr. Musk, also CEO of SpaceX and the social media platform X, was replying to a post made by Apple CEO Tim Cook announcing the AI-powered chatbot’s integration into Apple’s operating system.
If Mr. Cook refuses to “stop this creepy spyware,” Mr. Musk said he will ban “all Apple devices” from his companies’ premises and visitors would need to check their Apple devices at the door “where they will be stored in a Faraday cage.”
Apple announced at its Worldwide Developer Conference 2024 on June 10 that it intends to integrate ChatGPT into its devices, including enabling its voice assistant Siri to tap into the technology’s intelligence.
“The ChatGPT integration, powered by GPT-4o, will come to iOS, iPadOS, and macOS later this year,” Apple said in a press release, adding that its users would gain free access to ChatGPT.
The company said that Siri would ask for user permission before submitting inquiries to ChatGPT. Apple would also integrate ChatGPT into its systemwide Writing Tools to help users generate content.
“Privacy protections are built in when accessing ChatGPT within Siri and Writing Tools—requests are not stored by OpenAI, and users’ IP addresses are obscured,” Apple stated.
“Users can also choose to connect their ChatGPT account, which means their data preferences will apply under ChatGPT’s policies,” the company said.
In a separate X post, Mr. Musk wrote that Apple “has no clue what’s actually going on once they hand your data over to OpenAI.”
“It’s patently absurd that Apple isn’t smart enough to make their own AI, yet is somehow capable of ensuring that OpenAI will protect your security & privacy!” he stated. “They’re selling you down the river.”
The Epoch Times has reached out to Apple for comment but did not hear back by publication time.
Mr. Musk co-founded OpenAI alongside Sam Altman and Greg Brockman in 2015 but later departed from the company. In March, Mr. Musk sued OpenAI and its co-founders, saying they abandoned the company’s original mission to develop AI for the benefit of humanity.
His lawsuit alleges a breach of contract, saying Mr. Altman and Mr. Brockman originally approached him to make an open source, nonprofit company, but the startup is now focused on making money. Mr. Musk moved to drop the lawsuit on June 11, according to a filing in San Francisco Superior Court.
