Apple’s recent Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) has sparked a lot of distress online over the data security of users. At the WWDC, one of the most talked about technological events in the world, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that Apple would collaborate with OpenAI to bring ChatGPT functionality to iPhone, Mac and iPad. Soon after Apple unveiled the partnership with OpenAI, Elon Musk, the owner of Tesla, Space X and X, took to the microblogging platform to express his concern. His comments follow worries that the integration might chip into Apple’s secure operating system since OpenAI is known for learning user behaviour.
It’s patently absurd that Apple isn’t smart enough to make their own AI, yet is somehow capable of ensuring that OpenAI will protect your security & privacy!
Apple has no clue what’s actually going on once they hand your data over to OpenAI. They’re selling you down the river.
— Elon Musk on X (@elonmusk) June 10, 2024
Backing Musk’s Concern
Many took cognisance of what the Space X owner was saying. Elon Musk also went to the extent of saying that if visitors to his offices have an Apple device, they “will be stored in a Faraday cage.” For the unversed, a Faraday cage is an enclosure that blocks electromagnetic fields like the inflow or outflow of mobile signals. The block was invented by Michael Faraday.
An X (formerly Twitter) user backed Elon Musk by stating: “Absolutely. Having free access to audio, cameras, and iPhone content is absolutely unacceptable even if agreed to. It must be clear on every transaction what material is being shared.”
“Musk has announced about banning Apple devices at his companies, if the tech giant goes ahead with the integration of OpenAI solutions at the Operating System level (OS). To be honest, if Musk has concerns about the business arrangement between Apple-OpenAI, he can reach out to the global competition watchdogs,” Prabuddha Ghosh, Chief Content Editor and Finance Analyst at International Finance told The Voices.
Ghosh added, “Musk is known for his outspoken views and competitive entrepreneurial spirit, and it’s obvious from his knee-jerk reaction. However, his announcement of banning Apple devices at his companies sounds way too much.”
Pushing it too far?
Elon Musk owns a lot of companies and some of them go above and beyond to learn the patterns of user behaviour.
“The stance is pretty contradictory with Musk’s business practices. Considering the number of permissions Twitter/X takes on devices, not to mention the Tesla app that has a lot of privacy concerns regarding not only remote control of a car but also the recording of routes to train its self-driving capabilities. As a person who stands accused of insider trading by investors in the Dogecoin lawsuit, taking anything he says seriously would be nothing short of foolhardy,” said Danyal Arabi, Tech Editor, Gossip.gg to The Voices.
Not a lot of financial disruption
A deep dive into the issue opens up conversations about likely financial and technological displacements that Musk’s threat holds. Musk has always backed a safer artificial intelligence (AI) system and xAI, his 2023 AI venture, has been all about that. With his threat, and development of xAI, Musk seems to be on the front foot for leading the ‘Great Tech War’.
“Musk has made it clear that he is going to vehemently challenge any force that goes up against his vision of a safe and ethical AI,” Ghosh said.
Musk’s stance, however, might not affect Apple financially. One is likely to believe that the serial entrepreneur’s comment would make Apple’s shares fall, but it was quite the opposite. On the day of the fiasco, Apple’s share fell just three points from $196.90 to $193.12.
Edited by: Arunima Maharshi