The entrepreneur behind SpaceX, Tesla, and xAI issues a warning, stating that if Apple incorporates OpenAI into its operating system, he will forbid Apple products within his organizations.
Elon Musk is responding to Apple’s statement that it will be collaborating with OpenAI in addition to releasing its new “Apple Intelligence” suite, which has sparked a heated debate about AI.
The billionaire and CEO of Tesla threatened to ban Apple products across all of his firms if the tech giant integrated OpenAI at the operating system level, he said on X (previously Twitter).
Regarding X, which he also owns, Musk said, “That is an unacceptable security violation.” “It’s utterly ridiculous that Apple can’t even create artificial intelligence on their own, but they can guarantee that OpenAI will safeguard your privacy and security!”
Elon Musk is the founder of SpaceX, an aerospace firm that has launched humans to the International Space Station, and Tesla, a prominent manufacturer of electric vehicles (EVs). His recently founded artificial intelligence business, xAI, raised US billion in a Series B fundraising round to help it launch its first products.
AI privacy will always come first for businesses.
Elon Musk made his remarks just after Apple entered the global AI race, having previously appeared to be silent about the features the company was developing.
The tech giant has recently debuted a number of new AI features at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in California. It is calling these features “Apple Intelligence.” In a separate statement, the business said that Siri, Apple’s virtual assistant, will soon receive an update that will enable it to forward certain inquiries to OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot.
It’s interwoven into the daily apps you use and is private, strong, and personal.
“Compared to other voice assistants, speaking to Siri felt more like talking to a toddler for years, so the update is long overdue and welcome,” says Ben Wood, Chief Analyst and CMO at CCS Insight. “The first step will be improvements in Siri’s ability to understand what you are asking and the partnership with OpenAI means that Apple can immediately benefit from adding ChatGPT.”
Apple customers will be able to use ChatGPT technology on all of their devices thanks to this relationship.
Elon Musk objects to the combination because he believes it could result in security lapses, even though both businesses have made it clear that stringent privacy measures will be in place to guard against the compromise of sensitive consumer information.
According to Apple, customers can utilize the connection without logging into a ChatGPT account, therefore no data or searches will be stored by OpenAI. Similarly, Apple says it won’t send queries by default and asks the user to consent to exchanging information with ChatGPT before sending a query.
My companies will not allow Apple devices if Apple integrates OpenAI at the OS level. That is an intolerable breach of security — June 10, 2024, Elon Musk (@elonmusk)
The tech behemoth announced during the conference that its new features will be powered by a combination of cloud computing and on-device processing. Apple is announcing that it is engaging outside specialists to review its code in order to guarantee higher security standards, claiming to be a pioneer in the field of AI privacy.
Ben continues, “The collaboration with ChatGPT is a significant advancement that strengthens Apple’s AI offerings, and new features like a much improved Siri will be welcomed by users.” Although OpenAI’s models are not under Apple’s control, this exposes Apple to some vulnerability but also offers a fantastic headline AI relationship for the Apple ecosystem.
“However, this is just the first step in what is going to be a long journey to improve Siri to finally deliver against the promises Apple made when it first launched the service more than 10 years ago with the iPhone 4s.”
Elon Musk’s ongoing conflict of interest: From Open AI to xAI
There is no denying that Elon Musk and OpenAI have a convoluted past. Alongside current CEO Sam Altman, he played a key role in the startup’s 2015 launch. However, in 2018, he left the company owing to a conflict of interest.
Since then, Musk has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Sam Altman in March 2024, claiming that the latter has abandoned its initial goal of developing AI for the good of humanity rather than for financial gain. In addition, he established xAI as a direct rival of OpenAI and created a substitute for ChatGPT.
In its most recent fundraising round, xAI was valued at US$24 billion.
Regarding Apple, the dispute represents divergent opinions about the dramatic rise in artificial intelligence. Businesses are competing to adopt the newest models of technology as it develops, which has increased the number of talks regarding how responsible the newer models are.
Additionally, Apple has intentionally timed its announcements to coincide with a period in which it has lagged behind other countries in the race to create AI. As a matter of fact, the corporation was surpassed as the second most valuable company by Nvidia, a global chipmaker, not long after Microsoft took the top spot at the beginning of 2024.
Apple has been under fire in recent months for delaying the adoption of generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) and for stopping large-scale projects, which were linked to a decline in demand.
