Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has declared he will prohibit the use of Apple devices within his companies should Apple incorporate OpenAI technology into its operating system.
Musk made this statement through a series of posts on his social media platform, X, in response to Apple's recent announcement at its annual developers conference, where they unveiled a partnership with OpenAI, the developer of the generative chatbot ChatGPT.
"If Apple integrates OpenAI at the OS level, then Apple devices will be banned in my companies. That is an unacceptable security violation," Musk asserted in one post. He further articulated that visitors to his companies would be required to check their Apple devices at the door, where they would be placed in a Faraday cage to prevent any potential data breaches.
At the conference, Apple revealed new AI-based features supported by the partnership with OpenAI. An upgraded version of its voice assistant, Siri, is set to leverage ChatGPT capabilities, enabling it to perform hundreds of additional tasks. Apple assured users that they would be asked for permission before any data is shared with ChatGPT and emphasized that user requests and information would not be logged.
Musk derided Apple's decision in his posts, stating, "It's patently absurd that Apple isn't smart enough to make their own AI, yet they somehow think they can ensure OpenAI will protect your security & privacy! Apple has no clue what's actually going on once they hand your data over to OpenAI. They're selling you down the river."
In response, Apple has maintained that it uses its own AI and that the integration with OpenAI is an optional feature. The company reiterated its commitment to privacy, emphasizing that AI features would prioritize on-device processing while using cloud computing to safeguard user data.
Musk, a co-founder of OpenAI in 2015, stepped down from its board in 2018. In 2023, he established his own AI company, X.AI Corp., operating as xAI, with its first AI chatbot named Grok, a direct competitor to OpenAI's ChatGPT. Musk, who also owns the brain interface startup Neuralink, recently raised $6 billion in funding for xAI.
Additionally, in March, Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, alleging that the company is prioritizing AI development for profit rather than adhering to its original mission of benefiting humankind.
