Highlights
- Musk claims Apple-OpenAI partnership poses security risks, experts disagree.
- Apple to integrate ChatGPT into Siri with user opt-in and strict privacy controls.
- Fact-checkers label Musk’s statements as misleading and lacking evidence.
- Experts highlight Apple’s commitment to robust privacy and security.
The billionaire entrepreneur has again raised his voice, but this time against Apple, which recently announced a partnership with OpenAI.
This time around, Musk took to his familiar beef with a tech giant in a series of posts on his X platform, where he.
Still, cybersecurity experts and fact-checkers have more broadly rated Musk’s statements as misleading and lacking clear evidence.
The Controversy Erupts
If Apple integrates OpenAI at the OS level, then Apple devices will be banned at my companies. That is an unacceptable security violation.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 10, 2024
The furor emerged in response to the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference, or WWDC, earlier this week.
At its annual showcase, Apple revealed plans to integrate generative AI features into its suite of operating systems this fall.
In a major part of that update, Apple will give users access via apps like Siri to OpenAI’s wildly popular ChatGPT chatbot.
Musk was quick to react with a belligerent response. “If apple loads openai at os level then apple devices will be banned at my companies. That is an unacceptable security violation”, he averred.
But gave no evidence or details of what this_FS suggested security risk was.
A History of Beef and Flawed Logic Called Out
For Musk, the Apple-OpenAI tie-up may have struck a more personal nerve.
Last week alone, he had pulled a high-profile lawsuit that he had filed against OpenAI on grounds that the AI research company has strayed away from its original mission of benefiting humanity towards profits.
The billionaire has tried and failed in his efforts to take over OpenAI back in 2018.
Turning to the posts, Musk mocked up Apple for having to team up with an outside AI company to make the tech instead of doing it themselves.
He even teased making an “Elon Musk phone” to “fight this,” never specifying what “this” was.
But X fact-checkers were quick to shoot down Musk’s “creepy spyware” allegations as wrong and misleading.
By Apple’s own documentation, they observed, access to ChatGPT will be an opt-in feature that users must manually enable-not something embedded directly in the base operating system Musk insinuated.
Apple promised strict data privacy controls, too, wherein user data would never be passed along to, much less stored by, OpenAI.
Expert Assessment
From what’s known publicly, said Matthew Green, a cryptography professor at Johns Hopkins University and a well-known expert in the field, Apple isn’t incorporating OpenAI technology into lower operating system-level services as Musk described.
“It sounds pretty much not like what Elon Musk is describing,” Green asserted. “They’re saying you have to explicitly do this and opt into it and activate it. It sounds like, first of all, no they’re not embedding anything at the operating system level.”
While more technical details are still to emerge, Green noted Apple has consistently emphasized robust privacy and security around its AI initiatives.
A Credibility Deficit
It’s far from the first time the high-profile tech entrepreneur has made vast, unsubstantiated claims or accusations on social media.
In short, was this merely another example of the billionaire getting carried away on X, or are there indeed ulterior motives linked to his previous failed attempt to take over OpenAI?.
Anyway, with no evidence brought forth to support his alleged security concerns, Musk’s AI salvo against Apple really is viewed more with skepticism by experts and observers alike.
FAQs
What did Elon Musk say about Apple’s partnership with OpenAI?
Elon Musk criticized Apple’s partnership with OpenAI, claiming that integrating OpenAI’s technology at the operating system level poses unacceptable security risks.
How did experts respond to Musk’s claims?
Experts, including cybersecurity professionals and fact-checkers, dismissed Musk’s claims as misleading and lacking clear evidence, noting that Apple’s implementation includes strict privacy controls and user opt-in features.
What is Apple planning to do with OpenAI’s ChatGPT?
Apple plans to integrate OpenAI’s ChatGPT into its suite of operating systems, allowing users to access the chatbot through apps like Siri, with user data remaining private and secure.
Has Elon Musk provided evidence for his security concerns?
No, Elon Musk has not provided specific evidence to support his claims of security risks related to the Apple-OpenAI partnership.
What have experts said about the security of Apple’s AI integration?
Experts, such as Matthew Green from Johns Hopkins University, have stated that Apple’s approach involves user opt-in and activation, not embedding AI at the operating system level, aligning with Apple’s emphasis on privacy and security.
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