Elon Musk is threatening to ban iPhones from all his corporations over the newly introduced OpenAI integrations Apple introduced at WWDC 2024 on Monday. In a collection of posts on X, the Tesla, SpaceX and xAI exec wrote that “if Apple integrates OpenAI on the OS degree,” Apple gadgets can be banned from his companies and guests must examine their Apple gadgets on the door the place they’ll be “saved in a Faraday cage.”
His posts appear to misconceive the connection Apple introduced with OpenAI or at the least try to go away room for doubt about person privateness. Whereas Apple and OpenAI each mentioned that customers are requested earlier than “any questions are despatched to ChatGPT,” together with any paperwork or images, Musk’s responses point out he believes OpenAI is deeply built-in into Apple’s working system itself and due to this fact capable of hoover up any private and personal knowledge.
In iOS 18, Apple mentioned folks will be capable of ask Siri questions, and if the assistant thinks ChatGPT may help, it’ll ask permission to share the query and current the reply instantly. This enables customers to get a solution from ChatGPT with out having to open the ChatGPT iOS app. Photographs, PDFs or different paperwork you wish to ship to ChatGPT get the identical remedy.
Musk, nonetheless, would favor that OpenAI’s capabilities stay sure to a devoted app — not a Siri integration.
Responding to VC and CTO Sam Pullara at Sutter Hill Ventures who wrote that the person is approving a particular request on a per-request foundation — OpenAI doesn’t have entry to the system — Musk wrote, “Then depart it as an app. That is bullshit.”
Pullara had mentioned that the best way ChatGPT was built-in was basically the identical means the ChatGPT app works as we speak. The on-device AI fashions are both Apple’s personal or these utilizing Apple’s Personal Cloud.
In the meantime, replying to a publish on X from YouTuber Marques Brownlee that additional defined Apple Intelligence, Musk responded, “Apple utilizing the phrases ‘defend your privateness’ whereas handing your knowledge over to a third-party AI that they don’t perceive and might’t themselves create is *not* defending privateness in any respect!”
He even replied to a publish by Apple CEO Tim Cook dinner, whereby he threatened to ban Apple gadgets from the premises of his corporations if he didn’t “cease this creepy adware.”
“It’s patently absurd that Apple isn’t good sufficient to make their very own AI, but is in some way able to guaranteeing that OpenAI will defend your safety & privateness!” Musk exclaimed in one in all many posts concerning the new integrations. “Apple has no clue what’s truly occurring as soon as they hand your knowledge over to OpenAI. They’re promoting you down the river,” he mentioned. Whereas it’s true that Apple could not know the internal workings of OpenAI, it’s not technically Apple handing over the info — the person is making that selection, from the sound of issues.
Apple additionally introduced one other integration that will permit customers to have entry to ChatGPT system-wide inside Writing Instruments by way of a “compose” characteristic. As an illustration, you could possibly ask ChatGPT to put in writing a bedtime story on your youngster in a doc, Apple instructed. You could possibly additionally ask ChatGPT to generate photos in quite a few types to enrich your writing. By these options, customers will basically be accessing ChatGPT without spending a dime with out the friction of getting to create an account. That’s nice information for OpenAI, which can quickly have an enormous inflow of requests from Apple customers.
Apple customers could not perceive the nuances of the privateness points right here, after all — which is what Musk is relying on by making these complaints. If customers might set their very own most popular AI bot because the go-to for Siri requests or writing assist, like Anthropic’s Claude or — say, xAI’s Grok — it’s uncertain that Musk can be yelling this loudly concerning the risks of such an integration. (Actually, Apple simply hinted that Google Gemini might be built-in sooner or later, in a post-keynote session.)
In its announcement, Apple says that customers’ requests and knowledge aren’t logged, however ChatGPT subscribers can join their account after which entry their paid options instantly inside Apple’s AI experiences.
“In fact, you’re in management over when ChatGPT is used and can be requested earlier than any of your data is shared. ChatGPT integration can be coming to iOS 18 iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia later this 12 months,” mentioned Apple SVP of Software program Engineering Craig Federighi. The options will solely be out there on iPhone Professional 15 fashions and gadgets that use M1 or newer chips.
OpenAI reiterated one thing comparable in its weblog publish, noting that “requests aren’t saved by OpenAI, and customers’ IP addresses are obscured. Customers also can select to attach their ChatGPT account, which suggests their knowledge preferences will apply beneath ChatGPT’s insurance policies.” The latter refers back to the elective (as in opt-in) capability to attach the characteristic with their paid subscription.
