Elon Musk announced Monday that he will ban Apple devices from his companies’ buildings if the iPhone maker goes ahead with its planned OpenAI integration.
Apple held its annual Worldwide Developer’s Conference on Monday, and the biggest takeaway was that OpenAI’s ChatGPT will be combined with Siri.
In one example shown, Siri advised the iPhone user to consult ChatGPT for further dinner recipe ideas, making all the point that these new responses came from OpenAI’s chatbot and advising users to “check important information for errors.”
Musk responded to the plan on
He said, “If Apple integrates OpenAI at the OS level, Apple devices will be banned at my companies. That is an unacceptable safety violation,” Musk wrote.
Elon Musk came out swinging at Apple on Monday for his partnership with OpenAI, which he co-founded with Sam Altman in 2015 (Musk pictured at the Viva Technology conference on June 16, 2023)
The relationship between Altman and Musk deteriorated when OpenAI executives declined a buyout offer from Tesla in 2018, causing Musk to leave the company (Altman pictured at the APEC CEO Summit on November 16, 2023)
Siri will be equipped with GPT-4o, the latest version of the famous chatbot that some users say sounds like Scarlett Johansson’s character in the movie ‘Her’.
Prior to Musk’s post criticizing this move, Apple promised its users that, unlike normal use of ChatGPT directly from the OpenAI platform, users’ private data and their queries will not be recorded or stored.
The broader service on offer is called Apple Intelligence, which will have its own image-generating AI called ‘Image Playground’. It also transforms Apple’s calculator app into a living scratch paper on which you can solve complex math problems.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said one of the five criteria Apple Intelligence must meet is “private.”
According to the presentation, Apple Intelligence will “keep users’ personal data on their devices rather than uploading it to an Apple cloud” thanks to the company’s powerful new M-chips.
Musk made it clear in a subsequent post that he does not believe that.
“It’s patently absurd that Apple isn’t smart enough to make their own AI, yet is somehow able to ensure that OpenAI protects your security and privacy,” he wrote.
‘Apple has no idea what’s actually going on when they transfer your data to OpenAI. They sell you along the river.’
Apple CEO Tim Cook delivers remarks at the start of the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 10, 2024 in Cupertino, California
There is an option for Apple users to log into their existing ChatGPT account to use the service’s professional features, if they pay for it. In that scenario, ChatGPT will log your questions as normal, according to the usual terms and conditions.
The comments on Musk’s post were filled with people begging him to release his own phone with X branding or Tesla branding.
“Honestly, at this point, we need Tesla or X to come out with a phone powered by Starlink. I would switch in a heartbeat,” wrote right-wing film director Robby Starbuck.
“I don’t trust Sam Altman and I don’t want his technology on my phone, in my office or near my family.”
Elon Musk co-founded OpenAI with Sam Altman in 2015, and the company was supposed to be a non-profit organization to serve as a check on the potential threats that artificial intelligence could pose to humanity.
Their relationship soured when OpenAI executives declined a buyout offer from Tesla in 2018, prompting Musk to leave the company.
Altman once looked up to Musk, but the pair have since publicly divided over disagreements over the direction OpenAI should take.
In March, Musk sued OpenAI and Altman, its current CEO, for allegedly betraying the company’s founders for benefiting humanity rather than pursuing profit.
Sam Altman responded to Musk’s lawsuit on an episode of Lex Fridman’s podcast, saying he didn’t believe OpenAI was open source or not.
OpenAI’s founders published a series of emails from Musk supporting the company’s pivot to a mix between nonprofit and for-profit. Business insider reported.
Musk too joked about X that he would drop the lawsuit if the company changed its name to ClosedAI.
“I think this reflects the seriousness with which Elon takes the lawsuit – and it’s an astonishing thing to say,” Altman said.