Key OpenAI Executive Defends Apple Partnership Against Elon Musk's 'Creepy Spyware' Accusation: 'We Care Deeply About The Privacy Of Our Users'

Author: Rounak Jain | June 12, 2024 09:05am

OpenAI’s Mira Murati responded to Elon Musk’s criticism of the company’s partnership with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), emphasizing OpenAI’s commitment to user privacy.

What Happened: Murati, OpenAI’s chief technology officer, defended the company’s partnership with Apple, which involves integrating ChatGPT into iPhones, reported Fortune.

Reacting to the news, Musk called the feature “creepy spyware" and threatened to ban Apple devices from Tesla Inc.'s premises.

Don't want it.

Either stop this creepy spyware or all Apple devices will be banned from the premises of my companies.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 10, 2024

“That’s his opinion. Obviously, I don’t think so,” Murati said during an interview at Fortune’s MPW dinner in San Francisco. She also highlighted the company’s focus on user privacy and product safety.

"We care deeply about the privacy of our users and the safety of our products."

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Under the terms of the deal, Apple will offer users the option to use OpenAI’s AI technology for complex queries that Apple’s in-house AI may struggle to answer accurately. Apple has assured that it will not share user data with OpenAI and that OpenAI will not train its models with Apple user data.

Murati also added that this deal would help the company move the needle to "build trust around AI," but underscored that "we have a lot to do."

Now we're onto the Apple deal. Mira says privacy, safety, alignment. Key talking points = stuck to!

"We have to do a lot to build trust around AI. There's so many aspects to it," she said, adding this partnership is something that hopefully moves the needle on that trust.
— Kylie Robison (@kyliebytes) June 12, 2024

Why It Matters: This development comes in the wake of a series of resignations from OpenAI’s AI safety team, which has raised concerns about the company’s future in AI safety.

Apple’s integration of OpenAI’s ChatGPT into its Siri feature, announced at the Worldwide Developers Conference, has been met with mixed reactions.

Apple’s Craig Federighi revealed that users will be able to opt out of this integration, a move that could alleviate mounting concerns about AI privacy.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

Photos courtesy: Microsoft and Shutterstock

Posted In: AAPL