Elon Musk has issued a stark warning to Apple, threatening to ban its devices from his companies if the tech giant integrates OpenAI’s ChatGPT into its iPhone, iPad, and Mac operating systems. Musk labeled such integration as an “unacceptable security violation” and even proposed extreme measures such as storing visitors’ Apple devices in Faraday cages at Tesla, SpaceX, and other enterprises under his helm.
The controversy stemmed from Apple’s unveiling of “Apple Intelligence” during its 2024 Worldwide Developers Conference. This suite of new generative artificial intelligence (AI) features, set to roll out to iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia, includes a function enabling Siri to utilize ChatGPT for answering user queries. However, Musk condemned Apple’s reliance on third-party AI, asserting that it compromises privacy and security. He criticized Apple’s claim of protecting user privacy while outsourcing AI capabilities they themselves cannot develop.
Despite Musk’s criticism, Apple emphasized privacy protections in its press statement, assuring users that their IP addresses would remain obscured, and OpenAI would not store requests. However, Musk’s concerns about the potential risks of third-party AI integration remain.
The announcement of Apple Intelligence failed to generate a positive response in AI-linked cryptocurrencies, with Render (RNDR), Fetch.ai (FET), and SingularityNET (AGIX) experiencing declines according to CoinGecko.