Elon Musk Threatens Apple Device Ban over OpenAI Partnership

Elon Musk, the prominent CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, issued a stern warning on Monday regarding the potential ban of Apple devices from his companies. It came in response to Apple’s recent announcement of a partnership with OpenAI, the artificial intelligence research lab Musk co-founded but later distanced himself from.

In a series of posts on his social media platform X, Musk expressed serious concerns about the partnership, questioning Apple’s and OpenAI’s ability to safeguard user data effectively. He described the collaboration as “an unacceptable security violation” and criticized Apple, stating the company has “no clue what’s going on.”

The announcement that sparked Musk’s reaction involved Apple’s significant move into artificial intelligence, highlighted by an update to its voice assistant, Siri. This update allows Siri to integrate with OpenAI’s ChatGPT, providing more advanced conversational capabilities. Apple assured users that their interactions with ChatGPT would require explicit permission and that their queries would not be logged.

Musk’s skepticism was evident as he posted, “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!” He further threatened to ban Apple devices from his companies if Apple integrated OpenAI at the operating system level.

Apple clarified to CNBC that integrating with OpenAI is optional and emphasized its commitment to using its AI technologies. However, Musk directly addressed Apple CEO Tim Cook in a post, demanding that Apple cease what he termed “creepy spyware” or face a ban of its devices from Tesla and SpaceX premises. He also mentioned that visitors to his companies might be required to leave their Apple devices at the door.

Tesla, Musk’s largest enterprise, employed 140,473 people globally as of December 31 and has undergone significant layoffs this year, reducing its workforce by over 10%.

Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015, resigned from its board in 2018. Recently, he has been a vocal critic of OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman. In March, Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Altman, accusing them of straying from the company’s original mission to develop AI that benefits humanity broadly.

In a strategic move to rival OpenAI, Musk recently raised $6 billion for his new AI venture, xAI. The company’s first product, Grok, is positioned as a politically incorrect alternative to ChatGPT. In addition to his roles at Tesla and SpaceX, Musk also leads brain interface startup Neuralink and tunneling venture Boring Company.

Musk and OpenAI have yet to respond to CNBC’s requests for comment on this matter.

— CNBC’s Steve Kovach and Lora Kolodny contributed to the report.