(Bloomberg) — Billionaire Elon Musk said he would ban Apple Inc. devices from his companies if OpenAI’s artificial intelligence software was integrated at the operating system level, calling the tie-up a security risk .
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The remarks followed a Monday presentation from Apple Inc., when the iPhone maker said customers would have access to OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot through the Siri digital assistant. Apple plans to roll out these capabilities as part of a suite of new AI features later this year.
Musk co-founded OpenAI but fell out with the San Francisco-based startup. It has expressed concerns about the security implications of the rapid development of generative AI technology, but it is also working on its own ChatGPT competitor.
“If Apple integrates OpenAI at the operating system level, then Apple devices will be banned from my businesses,” Musk wrote on X, the social network he owns. “This is an unacceptable breach of security.”
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 need to check their Apple devices at the gate, where they will be stored in a Faraday cage,” he added, referring to a device that blocks electromagnetic fields.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
During Apple’s presentation, the company said “ChatGPT integration” would come to its operating systems for iPhone, iPad and Mac computers later this year. But it also said user data would not be tracked and other precautions would be taken.
“Privacy protections are built in when accessing ChatGPT in Siri,” Apple said in a statement announcing the feature. “Requests are not stored by OpenAI and user IP addresses are masked.”
Musk continued to investigate Apple on Monday, saying the company couldn’t create its own AI and had “no idea what would actually happen once it handed over your data to OpenAI.”
–With help from Rachel Metz and Mark Gurman.
(Updates with more from the Apple presentation in the eighth paragraph)
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