Elon Musk's latest anti-Apple tirade is about a ChatGPT feature that doesn't exist

AppleInsider

Elon Musk has a fundamental misunderstanding of Apple's partnership with ChatGPT and believes that it's the gateway to automatically sharing all user data on iPhone with OpenAI.

Apple and OpenAI partnered to bring ChatGPT to Siri

OpenAI is one of several partners Apple will enable to communicate with Apple Intelligence in iOS 18 and other operating systems later in 2024. The partnership allows for private and secure queries to third-party LLMs with complete control over what is sent and when.

Apple was clear in its announcement of ChatGPT integration with iOS 18 that every query would be user-approved and only available in select use cases. It appears that Elon Musk hasn't seen the keynote -- or is willingly misinterpreting what was said -- because he has shared a series of increasingly deranged posts on X speculating on data theft and nuclear warfare.

His first post suggests that if "Apple integrates OpenAI at the OS level," he will ban Apple devices from his companies. Visitors to his companies will have to leave their devices in a Faraday cage.

Musk accuses Apple of not knowing enough about the technology to ensure data safety. In the usual Musk fashion, each post gets further down a conspiratorial rabbit hole.

Elon Musk drawing incorrect conclusions on X

What's actually happening with ChatGPT

Later in 2024, when Apple enables ChatGPT functionality in iOS 18, it will be opt-in and on a per-query basis. With ChatGPT disabled, it will send the query to Apple servers with Apple-made LLMs powered by Apple Silicon, where everything is end-to-end encrypted.

If ChatGPT is enabled, the query will be put in front of the user, asking if the text should be forwarded to ChatGPT.

What data is sent to ChatGPT will fully depend on the context. However, it's never without user consent, and it will only ever be with data necessary for the query.

For example, Apple only showed off integrations dealing with text and image generation or web searches.

Siri requesting if a query can be sent to ChatGPT

The image, text, or search query sent to ChatGPT is sent without an identifier for free and discarded after the result is produced and sent to the user. Even if Apple and ChatGPT are lying and conspiring to gather user data, the data they get would only be what the user actively chooses to send.

To be clear, there is no reason to fear ChatGPT being addressable by Siri or Writing Tools. It isn't significantly different from installing the ChatGPT app on your iPhone.

The iOS 18 beta is available to developers. Apple Intelligence isn't included in the initial beta, and ChatGPT integrations likely won't appear until after a public launch in the fall.

We're not certain it is wise to make critical decisions about products you don't understand and take away user choice from your employees. But, if Musk wants to force everyone to use Android devices, which run Google Gemini locally, or Microsoft devices, which does not have the protections Apple has implemented, he has the power to do it.

Perhaps it is time for Elon Musk to finally make the X phone after years of promises, so he and his supporters can live in the perfect ecosystem of their design. We'd ask for comment, but poop emojis aren't exactly useful feedback.



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toyshoo

Musk should stick to building cars that aren't constantly recalled and like the Cyber Truck not have faulty issues before they are released.  His ongoing "I'm smarter than the rest of you"  will eventually kill his Tesla success.  

NYC362

Musk is just angry that Apple chose a competitor to his AI platform.   It is really is incredible... he's had some good ideas over the years (that others have been able to execute), but he so often acts like a petulant, spoiled child. 

Does he really think he's going to be able to stop customers in a Tesla showroom from looking at cars if they don't hand their iPhone over?  

22july2013

If Elon currently allows users to install their own software on their own phones and use those phones for business, he has a MUCH bigger problem.

robin huber

Musk and Trump are both examples of men who buy businesses started by smart people, or buy smart people to run their businesses. Then promote the myth that they themselves are brilliant. Mediocre brains with a nose for business + affluent parents to prime the pump. 

s.metcalf

If Elon Musk isn’t happy, I’m happy.

Xed

robin huber said:

Musk and Trump are both examples of men who buy businesses started by smart people, or buy smart people to run their businesses. Then promote the myth that they themselves are brilliant. Mediocre brains with a nose for business + affluent parents to prime the pump. 

Not sure about Musk, but Trump doesn't have a good history of hiring smart people over sycophants and lickspittles. Just look at how may have gone to jail for trying to cover up his significant history of criminal actives. But leaving that aside, the number of failed businesses indicate that he doesn't attract smart people. At least Musk has that going for him despite him bringing his own brand of flim flam narcissism to the table.

badmonk

He is becoming increasingly unhinged.  Satellite imaging shows tens of thousands of unsold Teslas stockpiled in parking lots that are unsold.  I personally saw a parking lot with over a 100 cybertrucks in a parking lot in NW Houston.  X continues to descend into an 8-chan cesspool of disinformation devoid of advertising.  The cybertruck has been a bit of a disaster (late in delivery, fit and finish issues, etc etc).  Honestly he needs to put his phone down and concentrate on what he does best.  X has been a disaster for him and has been his undoing.  I suspect his other businesses have been likewise running on autopilot (SpaceX etc etc) but he has become his own worst enemy.  I don’t think X will exist two years from now.  And it will be interesting to see what happens with his 56 billion dollar Tesla shareholder vote this week.  Personally I think the judge made the right call.

skippingrock

Do you want me to use ChatGPT to do that? Cancel or Use ChatGPT

for me, if I select "Cancel" that means stop and don't do anything. It doesn't tell me that it's going to try and use Apple technology instead to get the answer I need. 

And also, I want to be able to disable this from being asked altogether on my kids' devices… and mine.

This also tells me that Apple is giving up on trying to implement their own LLM. 

Xed

skippingrock said:

Do you want me to use ChatGPT to do that? Cancel or Use ChatGPT

This also tells me that Apple is giving up on trying to implement their own LLM. 

Just like they gave up on trying to implement their own maps service because they partnered with Google Maps?

I'd look it at the way you can search your devices now using Apple's search options, but if you go to Safari you have Google and many other search engine options to choose for an internet search.

PS: Do you really think you won't be able to disable it in Settings?

harrykatsaros

As someone who already uses ChatGPT anyway I really hope that there is a universal option to allow all required data to be passed onto OpenAI without asking me every single time it needs to do so. 

Stabitha_Christie

skippingrock said:

Do you want me to use ChatGPT to do that? Cancel or Use ChatGPT

for me, if I select "Cancel" that means stop and don't do anything. It doesn't tell me that it's going to try and use Apple technology instead to get the answer I need. 

And also, I want to be able to disable this from being asked altogether on my kids' devices… and mine.

This also tells me that Apple is giving up on trying to implement their own LLM. 

All I got from that was that you didn't watch the keynote. So, I'll help you out. At 1:08 Craig Federighi talks about how there are multiple Apple built LLMs that run Apple Intelligence both on device and in their cloud compute. 

daven

I used to think my next car would be a Tesla until Musk went from whacky to all out crazy.

chasm

I’m still deciding what’s worse:

Powerful people backed up with unearned wealth who believe they are perfect god-like geniuses, or the stupid people who worship and/or buy from such people. We have more than enough of the former, and WAAAAAAAAAY too many of the latter.

thinkman100000000

robin huber said:

Musk and Trump are both examples of men who buy businesses started by smart people, or buy smart people to run their businesses. Then promote the myth that they themselves are brilliant. Mediocre brains with a nose for business + affluent parents to prime the pump. 

I've said this all along, so thanks for the concise summation. Musk has a mediocre brain, Trump is brain-dead stooopid! A few years ago, I made a paid reservation for a Tesla Model S……fortunately it was right around the time Musk went off the rails and showed the world who he really is. Got my $$$s back and bought the far superior Lexus RX350. SO HAPPY!

baconstang

I'm surprised Musk isn't on 'Truth Social' by now.

omasou

He’s POed b/c Apple found a way to kneecap X.AI’s monetization model.

Bet MS/OpenAI pay Apple like Google does for search b/c data sent to ChatGPT 4 will help train their models.

Wesley Hilliard

skippingrock said:

Do you want me to use ChatGPT to do that? Cancel or Use ChatGPT

for me, if I select "Cancel" that means stop and don't do anything. It doesn't tell me that it's going to try and use Apple technology instead to get the answer I need. 

And also, I want to be able to disable this from being asked altogether on my kids' devices… and mine.

This also tells me that Apple is giving up on trying to implement their own LLM. 

1. That prompt doesn't appear unless you enable ChatGPT. It is opt in, not opt out. It won't be on your device unless you put it there.
2. Screen Time will undoubtedly allow you to stop children from running models. Plus, your kids need an A17 Pro or M-series chip
3. Apple literally announced multiple LLMs during the event. Some are on-device. Some are server-based and running on Apple Silicon.

Apple is including the option of targeting ChatGPT because people want the option. That's it. It isn't a failure. It isn't Apple saying ChatGPT is better. It just so happens OpenAI was ready to go first. Google Gemini and other models will arrive later.

This is more like you selecting a search engine. Apple's is the default. And even Apple's server-side component is fully optional.

Samchase

Musk has the ability to predict the future. He is an excellent programmer. I trust him on this one and I can understand why he is worried.

paisleydisco

skippingrock said:

Do you want me to use ChatGPT to do that? Cancel or Use ChatGPT

for me, if I select "Cancel" that means stop and don't do anything. It doesn't tell me that it's going to try and use Apple technology instead to get the answer I need. 

And also, I want to be able to disable this from being asked altogether on my kids' devices… and mine.

This also tells me that Apple is giving up on trying to implement their own LLM. 

Too much Red Bull today??

Xed

Samchase said:

Musk has the ability to predict the future. He is an excellent programmer. I trust him on this one and I can understand why he is worried.

1) WTF?! You just claimed that he's a prognosticator without any sarcastic reference? If that were even remotely true he surely wouldn't have bought Twitter and he wouldn't have made so many claims about releases that got pushed back over and over again, to just name two general things Musk got and gets very wrong.

2) So, you trust him about ChatPGT somehow overtaking Apple devices even though it's an opt-in feature and is only for external searching, just like you use Google to search the internet v searching Messages for a passed conversation? Makes sense. 🙄