Elon Musk threatens to ban Apple devices if OpenAI integrated into OS

By Nick Turner
 

Billionaire Elon Musk said he would ban Apple Inc. devices from his companies if OpenAI’s artificial intelligence software is integrated at the operating system level, calling the tie-up a security risk.
 

The remarks followed a presentation Monday by Apple Inc., when the iPhone maker said that customers would have access to OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot through the Siri digital assistant. Apple plans to roll out the capabilities as part of a suite of new AI features later this year. 

Musk co-founded OpenAI but had a falling-out with the San Francisco-based startup. He has voiced concerns about the safety implications of speedy development of generative AI technology, but he’s also working on his own competitor to ChatGPT.

“If Apple integrates OpenAI at the OS level, then Apple devices will be banned at my companies,” Musk wrote on X, the social network that he owns. “That is an unacceptable security violation.”

Musk runs Tesla Inc. and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. He also has his own AI startup, called xAI, with a chatbot named Grok. 

“Visitors will have to check their Apple devices at the door, where they will be stored in a Faraday cage,” he added, referring to a device that blocks electromagnetic fields. 

Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

During Apple’s presentation, the company said that “ChatGPT integration” will be coming to its operating systems for the iPhone, iPad and Mac computers later this year. But it also said that user data wouldn’t be tracked and there would be other precautions. 

“Privacy protections are built in when accessing ChatGPT within Siri,” Apple said in a statement announcing the feature. “Requests are not stored by OpenAI, and users’ IP addresses are obscured.”

Musk continued to take digs at Apple on Monday, saying that the company couldn’t make its own AI and had “no clue what’s actually going on once they hand your data over to OpenAI.”