Following Apple’s announcement of Apple Intelligence at WWDC 2024, Elon Musk went on a tirade against the tech giant for implementing ChatGPT in iPhone, iPad, and Mac devices, vowing to block all Apple products from his companies’ use because it was a “security breach.” Apart from this Apple also joined hands with OpenAI to bring ChatGPT to their ecosystem. Though Musk has nothing to worry about because Apple Intelligence is similar to when they integrated ChatGPT this is where the two ventures split. Here’s a breakdown:
Elon Musk on Apple Intelligence and ChatGPT Integration
After the WWDC keynote,Elon Musk tweeted “If Apple allows an OpenAI layer in the OS, I’m sure top Apple devices will somehow be banned at my companies. An invalid security breach problem at all. Apple has developed its own core AI models for both on-device and cloud processing, not unlike those that Musk and other skeptics believe power Apple Intelligence is based on OpenAI. These consist of a 3-billion parameter on-device AI model as well as one hosted on Apple’s private cloud server.
On-device AI model scans the device locally for processing and does not share data with external vendors. The company uses Private Cloud Compute, a cloud server developed by themselves, specifically for the purpose of processing AI queries safely and privately. For models on a large server, Apple Private Cloud Compute is used. In turn, all of this protects personal information, which has always been encrypted in such a way that even Apple cannot access it.
When it comes to ChatGPT integration, Apple devices request permission from users to send the queries to OpenAI servers. Users have full discretion over whether they want to utilize ChatGPT via Siri or Writing Tools on their iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Apple also announced during the keynote that OpenAI does not log user queries. OpenAI has emphasized privacy protections, stating that requests made through Siri and Writing Tools are not stored, and users’ IP addresses are obscured.
Addressing Elon Musk’s concern about the potential OS-level integration of ChatGPT, while Apple has integrated it for seamless use with Siri and Writing Tools, user permission is always sought before any data is sent. It’s important to note that ChatGPT is just one of the AI models being introduced to Apple devices, ensuring a diverse range of capabilities beyond just this integration.
