‘Apple devices will be banned at my companies if...’: Elon Musk's threat after Apple, OpenAI partnership

Elon Musk has issued a stark warning in response to Apple's newly announced partnership with OpenAI. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO declared that Apple devices would be banned at his companies if Apple integrates OpenAI's ChatGPT at the operating system level, calling such a move "an unacceptable security violation."

Musk's statement comes on the heels of Apple's unveiling of "Apple Intelligence," a suite of AI-powered features woven throughout iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia. Apple Intelligence leverages Apple silicon's capabilities to understand and generate language and images, streamline tasks across apps, and draw from personal context to simplify daily routines.

"We're thrilled to introduce a new chapter in Apple innovation. Apple Intelligence will transform what users can do with our products — and what our products can do for our users,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “Our unique approach combines generative AI with a user’s personal context to deliver truly helpful intelligence. And it can access that information in a completely private and secure way to help users do the things that matter most to them. This is AI as only Apple can deliver it, and we can’t wait for users to experience what it can do.”

While Apple has highlighted its commitment to user privacy, with many AI processes happening on-device and secure cloud infrastructure for more complex tasks, Musk's concerns seem to stem from a potential deeper integration of OpenAI's technology into Apple's core systems.

Musk, who himself heads the AI company xAI, doubled down on his stance in a follow-up tweet: “And visitors will have to check their Apple devices at the door, where they will be stored in a Faraday cage."