Elon Musk threatens to ban Apple devices from his companies over OpenAI partnership

Elon
Musk,
the
CEO
of


Tesla
and
SpaceX,
threatened
to
ban


Apple
devices
from
his
companies
on
Monday
after
the
iPhone
maker
announced
a
partnership
with
OpenAI.

In
a
series
of
posts
on
his
social
media
platform
X,
Musk
shared
concerns
about
whether
Apple
and
OpenAI
will
protect
users’
information.

He
called
the
software
integration
between
the
two
companies
“an
unacceptable
security
violation,”
and
said
Apple
has
“no
clue
what’s
actually
going
on.”

Apple
announced
its
long-awaited
push
into
artificial
intelligence
on
Monday,
which
included
an
update
to
its
voice
assistant
Siri.
As
part
of
the
update,
Siri
can
tap
into
OpenAI’s
popular
ChatGPT
chatbot.
Apple
said
users
will
be
asked
for
permission
to
share
their
questions
with
ChatGPT,
and
their
requests
and
information
will
not
be
logged.

“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
wrote
after
the
event.

He
specifically
said
that
Apple
devices
would
be
banned
if
the
company
“integrates
OpenAI
at
the
OS
level,”
referring
to
Apple’s
operating
system.

Apple
told
CNBC
that
the
company
is
using
its
own
AI,
and
its
integration
with
OpenAI
is
an
optional
feature.

Musk
replied
directly
to
a
post
from
Apple
CEO

Tim
Cook
and
claimed
he
will
ban
Apple
devices
from
his
companies’
premises
unless
Cook
decides
to
“stop
this
creepy
spyware.”
He
added
that
his
companies’
visitors
will
be
asked
to
check
their
Apple
devices
at
the
door.

Tesla,
Musk’s
largest
company,
employed
140,473
people
worldwide
as
of
Dec.
31.
The
company
has
implemented
layoffs
this
year
exceeding
10%
of
headcount.

Musk
co-founded
OpenAI
in
2015
and
stepped
down
from
its
board
in
2018.
He’s
been
a
vocal
critic
of
the
company
and
CEO
Sam
Altman
of
late.
In
March,
Musk

sued
OpenAI
and
Altman,
among
others,
alleging
they
abandoned
the
company’s
founding
mission
to
develop AI “for
the
benefit
of
humanity
broadly.”

Musk

raised
$6
billion
in
a
recent
funding
round
for
his
would-be
OpenAI
competitor,
xAI,
whose
first
product,
Grok,
is
meant
to
serve
as
a
politically
incorrect
answer
to
ChatGPT.
In
addition
to
Tesla,
SpaceX,
and
xAI,
Musk
is
founder
of
brain
interface
startup
Neuralink
and
tunneling
venture
Boring
Company.

Musk
and
OpenAI
didn’t
immediately
respond
to
CNBC’s
requests
for
comment.

—
CNBC’s
Steve
Kovach
and
Lora
Kolodny
contributed
to
this
report.

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