Recently, Apple announced a major news at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) that it will integrate ChatGPT technology developed by OpenAI into its products. This news has aroused strong dissatisfaction from Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who even threatened that if Apple does this, he will ban his company from using Apple devices.
It is reported that Apple has announced that it will integrate the ChatGPT function into operating systems such as iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia. Users can use this artificial intelligence assistant directly on Apple devices without having to register an additional account. For users who subscribe to the premium version of ChatGPT, they can also bind their account with the ChatGPT function in Apple devices to obtain more advanced features.
This news is considered an important step for Apple in the field of artificial intelligence. As one of the world's largest technology companies, Apple has been committed to improving user experience at the software and hardware levels, and integrating ChatGPT into its own products is undoubtedly strengthening its artificial intelligence capabilities.
However, this practice has aroused strong dissatisfaction from Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Musk believes that this practice poses serious security risks. Apple's integration of ChatGPT into the operating system is equivalent to exposing all user privacy data to OpenAI. This undoubtedly poses a huge risk to user information security. Musk posted on Twitter: "If Apple integrates OpenAI at the operating system level, my company will disable Apple devices, which is an unacceptable security violation."
Musk's remarks have attracted widespread attention in the industry. As a pioneer and authority in the field of artificial intelligence, Musk's views are undoubtedly of considerable weight. He is worried that OpenAI may steal user privacy data and use it for its own benefit, which is undoubtedly a problem worthy of vigilance. At the same time, Musk also criticized Apple's approach. He believes that Apple embeds ChatGPT directly into the operating system, which may affect the user experience and privacy rights. After all, once ChatGPT becomes a standard feature of the operating system, users cannot choose whether to use it, which will undoubtedly cause some controversy.
Not only that, Musk is also worried that ChatGPT may become a tool for Apple to snatch Siri users. Siri, as a voice assistant that Apple has worked hard to build for many years, has always been loved by users. But now the rapid rise of ChatGPT has undoubtedly put tremendous pressure on Siri. Musk believes that if Apple integrates ChatGPT directly into Siri, Siri's position will be seriously challenged. Users may prefer to use the more powerful ChatGPT, and gradually abandon Siri. This is undoubtedly an unfavorable situation for Apple. Therefore, Musk threatened that if Apple does this, his company will completely ban the use of Apple devices. This is undoubtedly a tough measure, but it also reflects Musk's concerns about privacy security and the competitive landscape.
Some analysts believe that Musk's move may be out of self-interest rather than a genuine concern for user privacy and security. Because Tesla has also been developing its own artificial intelligence technology, the cooperation with OpenAI and Apple will undoubtedly have a certain impact on Tesla's market position.
In addition, there is also a view that Musk's concerns are not completely unfounded. After all, if a technology giant can deeply integrate with AI companies at the operating system level, it will inevitably have a large amount of user data, which will indeed raise privacy and security issues. Even if OpenAI claims to provide privacy protection for users, users will inevitably have concerns about data security.
However, some people think that Musk's approach is a bit too radical. After all, Apple has always attached great importance to user privacy and has a very good reputation in this regard. Moreover, the integration of Siri and ChatGPT may also bring a better user experience. Therefore, prohibiting employees from using Apple devices seems to be killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. In short, there are many different opinions, and it is very lively.
It is worth mentioning that the cause of this storm can be traced back to a few years ago. As early as 2015, Musk was one of the co-founders of OpenAI. But later he withdrew from the artificial intelligence company and has remained critical. Musk said that OpenAI has completely deviated from his original goal of setting up the company and turned to serving profits.
Now, with the rapid rise of ChatGPT, OpenAI has officially reached a cooperation with Apple to integrate it into Apple operating systems such as iOS, iPadOS and macOS. This has aroused Musk's strong dissatisfaction. He believes that this is not only a threat to privacy and security, but also a deviation from his original intention of founding OpenAI.
In response, Musk announced that Tesla, SpaceX and other companies will be banned from using any Apple products, including iPhones and Mac computers. This decision will undoubtedly have a significant impact on both companies. Tesla is an important partner of Apple, and the two sides have extensive cooperation in software and hardware. Apple has also always regarded Tesla as a key partner in the field of new energy vehicles.
Musk's ban will undoubtedly hit Apple's influence in the enterprise market, as employees of high-tech companies such as Tesla use Apple devices in large quantities. At the same time, this decision may also affect Tesla's own operational efficiency, as employees need to change devices on a large scale.
Apple has not made an official response to this. However, industry insiders believe that Apple may be trying to leverage the popularity of ChatGPT to improve Siri's competitiveness, and also hopes to obtain more user data from it to enhance its own artificial intelligence layout.
However, Musk obviously does not buy into this. He believes that the cooperation between Apple and OpenAI not only poses a security risk, but also goes against his original intention of founding OpenAI. Therefore, he would rather sacrifice the partnership between Tesla and Apple and firmly oppose this approach.
This battle around artificial intelligence, privacy and commercial interests once again highlights the conflicts and games between technology giants. On the one hand, the rise of ChatGPT has triggered fierce competition among major technology companies; on the other hand, user privacy and data security have also become the focus of attention of all parties. For ordinary users, they hope that the two companies can compromise to avoid affecting their own user experience due to internal conflicts. After all, both Siri and Tesla's in-car system directly serve the majority of consumers.
In general, this incident once again reflects the complex interests within the technology industry. Musk's tough attitude certainly highlights his influence in the field of artificial intelligence, but it also raises questions about the motivations of Apple and OpenAI's cooperation. It is worth paying close attention to how the industry will respond to this change in the situation.
