Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has spoken out about an incoming partnership between two of his biggest tech competitors, threatening to ban Apple devices across his company.
Musk Slams New Partnership
A new partnership between OpenAI and Apple has left Elon Musk infuriated, and threatening to remove all Apple products from his companies if the collaboration goes ahead.
OpenAI and Apple Collaboration
Apple revealed its plans to integrate OpenAI’s ChatGPT powered by GPT-4o with select Apple software at the Worldwide Developer’s Conference. The ChatGPT application would become freely available for customers using iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia, later this year.
Apple Announcement
“When a user grants permission, Siri can tap into ChatGPT’s broad world knowledge and present an answer directly,” Apple said in a release accompanying the announcement.
OpenAI Confirms It
OpenAI president Greg Brockman confirmed the software integrations on X, writing “We’re partnering with Apple to integrate ChatGPT right into iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. Will be available later this year, very excited!”
Blanket Ban on Apple
Shortly following the conference announcement, Tesla CEO and AI competitor Elon Musk took to his social media platform X to hit back at the partnership between the two companies, and to threaten a blanket ban on Apple devices.
“An Unacceptable Security Violation”
“If Apple integrates OpenAI at the OS level, then Apple devices will be banned at my companies. That is an unacceptable security violation,” Musk wrote.
A Damning Threat
It is a damning threat for Apple, as Musk holds significant positions at a range of major companies: he is CEO of space-transportation and satellite-based internet service SpaceX, and Tesla, the world’s largest EV company.
A Man of Many Companies
He is also the chairman and CTO of X, and the founder of Neuralink, The Boring Company, and OpenAI, an up-and-coming xAI, an artificial intelligence research organization pitted against OpenAI.
Faraday Cage May Come Out
Musk stipulated that all employees and visitors at his company who owned Apple devices would have to store them in a Faraday cage during the workday.
Blocking Electromagnetic Fields
A Faraday cage is a compartment that blocks electromagnetic fields. Specifically, it would block cellular reception and wifi signals from entering the cage, blocking any Apple devices from connecting to company networks.
Warning the Public
He has also warned the general public of the potential security issues that the partnership would entail, claiming that Apple could not guarantee that OpenAI wouldn’t use the partnership to harvest data from Apple users.
Can They Guarantee User Privacy?
“It is patently absurd that Apple isn’t smart enough to make their own AI, yet it is somehow capable of ensuring that OpenAI will protect your security and privacy,” he continued. “They are selling you down the river.”
Protections Confirmed
Apple did acknowledge safety concerns during the conference announcement, confirming that “protections are built in for users who access ChatGPT.”
Guards Against Data Harvesting
These included assurances that all IP addresses would be kept private and that no ChatGPT requests made through Apple software could be stored by OpenAI.
AI Competition
Some have brushed off Musk’s outbursts as an attempt to discredit his two rivals, as a partnership between the pair would be an enormous boost for OpenAI, which is already the world’s foremost AI research organization.
Musk’s Own AI Company
Musk has made no secret about his desire to spearhead AI innovation, launching xAI last year and recently raising $6 billion in series B funding for the startup.
Once a Co-Founder
However, there is no doubt that the Tesla billionaire has a deeper understanding of OpenAI operations than the average tech worker. After all, he co-founded the company with CEO Sam Altman back in 2015, along with a group of developers and investors.
Class-Action Lawsuit
Musk even filed a class-action lawsuit against OpenAI and Altman back in March, claiming that Altman had betrayed the company’s founding aim of benefiting humanity.
Not for the Benefit of Humanity?
“Under its new Board, it is not just developing but is actually refining an AGI to maximize profits for Microsoft, rather than for the benefit of humanity,” the lawsuit read.
No Response Yet
So far neither Apple nor OpenAI representatives have directly responded to Musk’s comments. A formal process to ban Apple products across Musk’s companies has not yet been confirmed.
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