Elon Musk threatens to ban Apple devices at his companies in response to Apple's biggest iOS 18 announcement at WWDC 2024

AI
(Image credit: Apple)

Elon Musk has issued a scathing denunciation of Apple's new ChatGPT integration with iPhone announced at WWDC 2024, threatening to ban iPhones at Tesla, Space X, and beyond.

In a post on X, Musk stated "If Apple integrates OpenAI at the OS level, then Apple devices will be banned at my companies. That is an unacceptable security violation." 

"And visitors will have to check their Apple devices at the door, where they will be stored in a Faraday cage," Musk continued. His outburst seems to be in response to Apple's new Apple Intelligence announcement, which includes integration with OpenAI's ChatGPT. 

Apple AI confusion?

As a proposed Community Note and several comments have pointed out, Apple's integration with OpenAI's ChatGPT requires explicit permission from a user before any information is pinged to OpenAI's servers. 

"Privacy protections are built in for users who access ChatGPT — their IP addresses are obscured, and OpenAI won’t store requests. ChatGPT’s data-use policies apply for users who choose to connect their account," Apple's press release states. The new feature will arrive later this year on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, with users able to access it for free without creating an account. ChatGPT subscribers will be able to access further paid features on all platforms. 

Apple says the core of Apple Intelligence is on-device processing, and any requests sent to the cloud go through its new Private Cloud Compute feature, which means data isn't stored. On ChatGPT specifically, Apple clarifies:

"You control when ChatGPT is used and will be asked before any of your information is shared." 

Whether Apple's reassurances will be enough for Musk remains to be seen. But it's an Apple AI world now, and you just live in it, Elon.

Follow the WWDC 2024 LIVEBLOG here as it happened. Or check out our roundups for all the latest on the newly announced iOS 18iPadOS 18macOS 15watchOS 11visionOS 2, and Apple Intelligence.

Stephen Warwick
News Editor

Stephen Warwick has written about Apple for five years at iMore and previously elsewhere. He covers all of iMore's latest breaking news regarding all of Apple's products and services, both hardware and software. Stephen has interviewed industry experts in a range of fields including finance, litigation, security, and more. He also specializes in curating and reviewing audio hardware and has experience beyond journalism in sound engineering, production, and design. Before becoming a writer Stephen studied Ancient History at University and also worked at Apple for more than two years. Stephen is also a host on the iMore show, a weekly podcast recorded live that discusses the latest in breaking Apple news, as well as featuring fun trivia about all things Apple. Follow him on Twitter @stephenwarwick9