On Monday, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced that he would ban the use of Apple products in his companies because of Apple’s partnership with Sam Altman’s OpenAI.
Musk, 52, expressed his concerns on X about how Apple and OpenAI handle user data, calling their software integration “an unacceptable security violation,” according to CNBC.
The tech billionaire slammed the company, saying they have “no clue what’s going on.”
His comments came after Apple announced its venture into artificial intelligence, which includes updating its voice assistant Siri to use OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot.
Apple assured users that they would ask for consent before sharing any data with ChatGPT and promised that their information would not be stored.
“It’s patently absurd that Apple isn’t smart enough to create their own AI, yet somehow capable of assuring us that OpenAI will protect your security and privacy!” Musk wrote after the event.
He specifically mentioned that Apple devices would be banned if the company “integrates OpenAI at the OS level,” pointing to their operating system.
Apple told CNBC that the company uses its own AI, and its integration with OpenAI is an optional feature.
Musk directly replied to a post from Apple CEO Tim Cook, claiming he will ban Apple devices from his company’s premises unless Cook decides to “stop this creepy spyware.”
He added that visitors to his companies will be asked to leave their Apple devices at the door. Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015 but stepped down from its board in 2018.
Musk has been a vocal critic of the company and its CEO recently. In March, he sued OpenAI, alleging it abandoned its founding mission to develop AI “for the benefit of humanity broadly.”
Musk recently raised $6 billion in funding for his AI firm, xAI. According to CNBC, their first product, Grok, is designed to be a politically incorrect alternative to ChatGPT.
