Elon Musk has issued a scathing denunciation of Apple's new ChatGPT integration with iPhone announced at WWDC 2024, threatening to ban iPhones at Tesla, Space X, and beyond.
In a post on X, Musk stated "If Apple integrates OpenAI at the OS level, then Apple devices will be banned at my companies. That is an unacceptable security violation."
"And visitors will have to check their Apple devices at the door, where they will be stored in a Faraday cage," Musk continued. His outburst seems to be in response to Apple's new Apple Intelligence announcement, which includes integration with OpenAI's ChatGPT.
Apple AI confusion?
As a proposed Community Note and several comments have pointed out, Apple's integration with OpenAI's ChatGPT requires explicit permission from a user before any information is pinged to OpenAI's servers.
"Privacy protections are built in for users who access ChatGPT — their IP addresses are obscured, and OpenAI won’t store requests. ChatGPT’s data-use policies apply for users who choose to connect their account," Apple's press release states. The new feature will arrive later this year on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, with users able to access it for free without creating an account. ChatGPT subscribers will be able to access further paid features on all platforms.
Apple says the core of Apple Intelligence is on-device processing, and any requests sent to the cloud go through its new Private Cloud Compute feature, which means data isn't stored. On ChatGPT specifically, Apple clarifies:
"You control when ChatGPT is used and will be asked before any of your information is shared."
Whether Apple's reassurances will be enough for Musk remains to be seen. But it's an Apple AI world now, and you just live in it, Elon.
Follow the WWDC 2024 LIVEBLOG here as it happened. Or check out our roundups for all the latest on the newly announced iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS 15, watchOS 11, visionOS 2, and Apple Intelligence.
