(Reuters) – Billionaire Elon Musk said on Monday he would ban Apple (NASDAQ:) devices from his companies if the iPhone maker integrates OpenAI at the operating system level.
“This is an unacceptable security breach,” said Musk, CEO of electric vehicle maker Tesla (NASDAQ:) and rocket maker SpaceX, as well as owner of the social network X.
“And visitors will have to check their Apple devices at the door, where they will be kept in a Faraday cage,” he said.
Apple and OpenAI did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Earlier in the day, Apple announced a host of artificial intelligence features across its apps and operating platforms, as well as a partnership with OpenAI to bring ChatGPT technology to its devices.
Apple said it has built artificial intelligence with privacy “at the core” and will use a combination of on-device processing and cloud computing to implement these features.
“It is completely absurd that Apple is not smart enough to create its own AI, but is somehow able to ensure that OpenAI will protect your security and privacy!” Musk said this on X.
It’s unlikely anyone will follow Musk’s lead, said Ben Bajarin, CEO of consulting firm Creative Strategies, adding that Apple is trying to convince people that a private cloud is as secure as storing data on a device.
“What (Apple) is now trying to add to the narrative is that when (the data) goes away and is transferred to a secure private cloud, it similarly passes on to you the same anonymization of user data and firewall protection of that information. Apple never really sees it.” He said.
Musk sued OpenAI, which he founded in 2015, and its CEO Sam Altman in early March, saying they abandoned the startup’s original mission of developing AI for the benefit of humanity rather than for profit.
He also founded his own startup, xAI, in an attempt to challenge OpenAI and create an alternative to the viral chatbot ChatGPT.
In its most recent funding round, xAI was valued at $24 billion when it raised $6 billion in Series B funding.