Apple Restricts Use of ChatGPT Among Employees: Report

Apple has imposed restrictions on the use of ChatGPT and other external artificial intelligence tools among its employees as it develops its own similar technology, according to a document reviewed by The Wall Street Journal and sources familiar with the matter.

What’s the problem? Apple sees a potential risk of confidential data being leaked when using these AI programs. The document also advised its employees against using Microsoft’s GitHub’s Copilot, an automated software writing tool.

ChatGPT, developed by Microsoft-backed OpenAI, is a chatbot that uses large language models capable of answering questions, writing essays, and performing other tasks in a human-like manner. However, the use of these models involves sending data back to the developer for continued improvements, which could possibly lead to the sharing of proprietary or confidential information, by accident. Apple is a company that holds its product pipeline secrets close to its chest.

Other organizations, including JPMorgan Chase and Verizon, have also banned the use of ChatGPT. Amazon has encouraged its engineers to use its own internal AI tool for coding assistance. Samsung has also banned employees from using ChatGPT too, citing similar security concerns.

Apple is also working on its own large language models, led by John Giannandrea, a former Google executive hired by the iPhone maker in 2018. Under Giannandrea’s leadership, Apple has acquired several artificial intelligence startups. Let’s hope Apple can make something happen that rivals ChatGPT, because Siri as it stands, needs a major overhaul.

Apple CEO Tim Cook, during the company’s most recent quarterly earnings call, expressed concerns about advancements in generative artificial intelligence. He emphasized the need for a “thoughtful” and deliberate approach to its AI rollout for products.

With these concerns, OpenAI’s ChatGPT app for the iPhone and iPad was launched on Thursday, but first in the U.S. and soon available for other countries such as Canada.