Elon Musk warns he will ban Apple devices if OpenAI is integrated at OS level

Billionaire Elon Musk on June 11 said he would ban Apple Inc. devices from his companies if OpenAI’s artificial intelligence software is integrated at the operating system level, calling the tie-up a security risk.

“If Apple integrates OpenAI at the OS level, then Apple devices will be banned at my companies. That is an unacceptable security violation,” he wrote on X.

Musk 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 and 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…And visitors will have to check their Apple devices at the door, where they will be stored in a Faraday cage,” he said.

It must be noted that Musk co-founded OpenAI but had a falling-out with the San Francisco-based startup. He has voiced concerns about the safety implications of speedy development of generative AI technology, but he’s also working on his own competitor to ChatGPT.

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Earlier in the day, Apple announced a slew of AI features across its apps and operating platforms and a partnership with OpenAI to bring the ChatGPT technology to its devices.

Apple said it had built AI with privacy "at the core" and it would use a combination of on-device processing and cloud computing to power those features.

Musk had sued OpenAI, which he co-founded in 2015, and its CEO Sam Altman at the beginning of March, saying they abandoned the startup's original mission to develop AI for the benefit of humanity and not for profit.

He has also founded his own startup, xAI, in a bid to challenge OpenAI and build an alternative to the viral chatbot ChatGPT. xAI was valued at $24 billion in its last funding round, where it raised $6 billion in series B funding.

(With inputs from agencies)

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