Elon Musk says he could ban Apple devices at his companies over OpenAI deal

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Elon Musk has said he could ban Apple devices from his companies over the tech giant’s deal to integrate ChatGPT into the iPhone, iPad and Mac.

The Tesla boss said the decision was an “unacceptable security violation” and accused Apple of handing over user data to OpenAI, the firm behind the chatbot.

As part of its generative AI announcements on Monday, Apple said that alongside its new Apple Intelligence system that will allow users to access generative AI-powered tools almost anywhere within their devices, it would give users the option to send a query to ChatGPT to take advantage of its own spectrum of knowledge.

Writing on X, Mr Musk said: “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.”

In a further post, he added: “It’s patently absurd that Apple isn’t smart enough to make their own AI, yet is somehow capable of ensuring that 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.”

Apple has been approached for comment in response to Mr Musk’s claims, but in its announcement of the partnership, it said users needed to give their permission before any request was shared with OpenAI and that requests were not stored during the process.

Mr Musk has a fractious relationship with OpenAI – he was a founder of the company, but has since turned against it and accused it of failing to follow its founding principles.

He has even sued the company, claiming it has abandoned its original mission to instead focus on profit, something OpenAI has denied.

The SpaceX boss is also now a direct rival to OpenAI, with Mr Musk having created his own AI firm – xAI – which has created Grok, a chatbot designed to take on ChatGPT.