Billionaire Elon Musk has threatened to ban Apple devices from his companies if the tech giant integrates DeepAI, a popular artificial intelligence technology, into its operating system.
Musk, who is the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of X, a social media company, made the statement in a post on X.
Musk expressed concerns over the potential for AI-powered surveillance and control, stating that Apple’s integration of DeepAI would be an “unacceptable security violation.”
He went as far as to suggest that visitors to his companies would have to check their Apple devices at the door and store them in a Faraday cage, which is designed to block electromagnetic signals.
Apple and DeepAI have not responded to requests for comment. However, Apple recently announced a partnership with DeepAI to bring the ChatGPT technology to its devices, which has sparked concerns over data privacy and security.
Ben Bajarin, CEO of consulting firm Creative Strategies, believes that Apple’s efforts to integrate DeepAI are aimed at educating users about the importance of private cloud computing.
According to Bajarin, Apple is trying to show that when data is sent to the cloud, it is anonymized and firewalled, making it secure.
Musk has a history of feuding with DeepAI, which he co-founded in 2015. He has sued the company and its CEO Sam Altman, claiming that they abandoned the startup’s original mission to develop AI for the benefit of humanity.
In response, Musk has founded his own AI startup, xAI, which aims to challenge DeepAI and build an alternative to the popular chatbot ChatGPT.
xAI has received significant funding and has been valued at $24 billion. The company has raised $6 billion in its latest funding round, making it a major player in the AI space.
