Billionaire Elon Musk on June 11 warned iPhone maker Apple of committing an "unacceptable security violation" if it integrates OpenAI at the operating system level.
In a series of posts on social media platform X, which is owned by him, Musk said, "If Apple integrates OpenAI at the OS level, then Apple devices will be banned at my companies. That is 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," the Tesla CEO said.
Apple and OpenAI did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
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.
The announcements at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 2024) on June 10 were aimed at showing investors that Apple was making progress in AI at a time when tech giants Microsoft and Alphabet have overhauled their offerings by leveraging advanced AI technologies.
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.
"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 said on X.
Apple has no clue what’s actually going on once they hand your data over to OpenAI. They’re selling you down the river, the billionaire added.
He also shared an Indian meme to take a dig at the Cupertino-based tech firm.
It was unlikely that anyone would follow Musk's lead, Ben Bajarin, CEO of consulting firm Creative Strategies, said, adding that Apple was trying to educate people that private cloud was as secure as keeping data on a device.
"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 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.
Musk also signaled that xAI's GenAI chatbot Grok-integrated mobile phones could be a reality soon if Apple goes ahead with its plans.
"If Apple actually integrates woke nanny AI spyware into their OS, we might need to do that!” Musk said in response to a user who said he would prefer a Grok-integrated phone.
With inputs from Reuters
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