Elon Musk Threatens to Ban Apple Devices at His Companies Over AI Partnership

Elon Musk is voicing strong opposition to Apple’s newly announced partnership with OpenAI, creators of ChatGPT. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO declared on Monday that he would ban Apple devices from his companies if Apple proceeds with integrating OpenAI’s technology into its operating systems.

In a post on X, Musk stated that integrating OpenAI at the operating system level would be “an unacceptable security violation.” He added that visitors to his companies would have to leave their Apple devices in a Faraday cage, which blocks electromagnetic signals necessary for communication, including cellular and WiFi.

“Apple has no clue what’s actually going on once they hand your data over to OpenAI,” Musk claimed in another post. “They’re selling you down the river.”

Apple announced the partnership with OpenAI at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, highlighting plans to enhance Siri and other tools with AI. OpenAI’s president, Greg Brockman, confirmed that ChatGPT would be integrated into Apple’s iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, slated for release later this year.

Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 but now runs a competing firm called xAI, has had a contentious relationship with OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman. He is currently suing them for allegedly violating OpenAI’s founding agreement and straying from its nonprofit mission, claims OpenAI has dismissed as baseless.

Musk’s threat to ban Apple devices follows similar AI integrations by other tech giants, including Google and Samsung for Android devices and Microsoft, which plans to incorporate AI features into Windows.

However, experts believe Musk’s threat may be more about rivalry than genuine concern. “Apple’s AI approach is actually more privacy-conscious than others, with its aim to process as much on the device as possible,” said Catherine Flick, a professor of ethics and games technology at Staffordshire University. “This just feels like sour grapes from Musk, who runs a competing AI company that wasn’t given the lucrative Apple contract.”

Apple’s move into generative AI, facilitated by its partnership with OpenAI, could help it catch up to competitors like Google and Microsoft, who have already made significant strides in AI.

“This is a key moment for Apple, which has struggled with innovation of late,” noted Matt Britzman, an equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown. “Integrating a third-party tool like ChatGPT finally gets things moving, while leaving space to develop internal models over the next few years at much lower costs than the first movers.”

As the tech world watches closely, it remains to be seen whether Musk will follow through on his threat to ban Apple devices, potentially affecting the use of iPhones and Macs across his companies.