Billionaire Elon Musk announced on Monday that he would ban Apple devices at his companies if the iPhone maker integrates OpenAI technology at the operating system level.
"That is an unacceptable security violation," Musk, who is the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of the social media platform X, stated in a post on X. "Visitors will have to check their Apple devices at the door, where they will be stored in a Faraday cage," he added.
Earlier in the day, Apple revealed a range of AI features across its apps and operating platforms, announcing a partnership with OpenAI to incorporate ChatGPT technology into its devices.
Apple emphasized that its AI developments are built with privacy "at the core," using a combination of on-device processing and cloud computing.
"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 & privacy!" Musk commented on X.
Ben Bajarin, CEO of consulting firm Creative Strategies, suggested it was unlikely that anyone would follow Musk's lead. He noted that Apple is attempting to educate users about the security of private cloud computing. "What Apple is trying to now add to the narrative is when data leaves and goes to the secure private cloud, it's similarly taking that same user data anonymization and firewalling of that information to you. Apple really never sees that," he said.
Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015, has a contentious history with the organization. He sued OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, in early March, alleging that they abandoned the startup's original mission to develop AI for the benefit of humanity and not for profit.
In response to these developments, Musk founded xAI, a startup aimed at challenging OpenAI and building an alternative to ChatGPT. In its last funding round, xAI was valued at $24 billion, raising $6 billion in series B funding.
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