Elon Musk responded to Apple’s newly announced partnership with OpenAI, on Monday, by declaring that he would ban Apple devices at his companies if the iPhone maker integrates OpenAI at the operating system level, Reuters reported.
“That is an unacceptable security violation,” the Tesla, SpaceX, and X CEO said in a post on X.
Apple’s AI announcement, Elon’s skepticism, industry reaction
Apple announced a comprehensive array of artificial intelligence features integrated across its applications and operating systems, along with a partnership with OpenAI to incorporate ChatGPT technology into its devices at WWDC 2024. Apple emphasised that its AI developments prioritise privacy, employing a combination of on-device processing and cloud computing to support these features.
In iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS 16, Apple has integrated ChatGPT capabilities after partnering with OpenAI. It’s one their big headlining features and a deal that’s said to be worth billions of dollars.
Musk expressed skepticism on X, suggesting it is absurd that Apple, a company he believes is not capable of developing its own AI, can ensure that OpenAI will protect users’ security and privacy.
Musk’s legal actions against OpenAI
Elon Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015, sued the organisation and its CEO, Sam Altman, at the beginning of March, alleging that they had strayed from the startup’s original mission to develop AI for the benefit of humanity rather than for profit. In response, Musk has founded his own startup, xAI, aiming to challenge OpenAI and create an alternative to the popular chatbot ChatGPT. xAI was valued at $24 billion in its most recent funding round, where it raised $6 billion in Series B funding.
