Elon Musk Threatens to Ban Apple Devices Over ChatGPT Integration

Elon Musk on Monday threatened to boycott Apple devices after the tech giant announced ChatGPT integration for its products. The Tesla CEO and owner of X said he would commit to banning Apple devices across the premises of all of his companies “if Apple integrated OpenAI at the OS level.”

Per the billionaire, this would be “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

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 10, 2024

Musk’s comments came shortly after Apple kicked off its yearly Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) event on Monday. During the keynote address, Apple announced “Apple Intelligence,” a new personal intelligence system for iPhone, iPad, and Mac that, according to the company, “understands personal context to deliver intelligence that is helpful and relevant.”

As part of these AI advancements, Apple is bringing ChatGPT to iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia (and later). Users will be able to access ChatGPT’s expertise, powered by GPT-4o, and its image- and document-understanding capabilities right from their Apple devices.

However, Apple does not intend to integrate ChatGPT at the OS level. Instead, ChatGPT’s generative AI capabilities will be baked right into Siri and other existing Apple systems, such as macOS’s systemwide Writing Tools.

Apple also explained that users are asked before any queries, documents, or photos are sent to ChatGPT. If the user agrees to share the information with ChatGPT, the AI’s responses are then presented by Siri.

“Privacy protections are built in for users who access ChatGPT — their IP addresses are obscured, and OpenAI won’t store requests,” noted Apple.

However, whether Apple’s assurances are enough to tamper Musk’s concerns remains to be seen. Seemingly miffed by Apple’s decision to welcome the prized chatbot created by OpenAI, a company Musk shares a complicated history with, into its ecosystem, the billionaire even entertained the possibility of an “X phone” designed in partnership with Samsung.

According to Musk, a collaboration between his social media company and the South Korean electronics giant to create a privacy-focused smartphone “is not out of the question.”

It is not out of the question

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 11, 2024

Apple Intelligence — ChatGPT integration included — will be available in beta on iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and iPad and Mac models with M1 chips and later starting this fall.