Hey Elon, go ahead and ban Apple devices

Yesterday, following Apple’s announcement of a partnership with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT support into the company’s devices, Elon Musk did what he always does: he tweeted. The owner of X, that it would ban Apple devices in its companies “If Apple integrates OpenAI at the operating system level.”. And to that I say: go for it. And while you’re at it, remove your company’s software from the Apple App Store, too.

Musk’s companies (at least the larger ones) currently include Tesla, SpaceX, X, X AI, and Neuralink. Even if we’re just talking about phones — which, according to Search for counterpoint Apple currently has a 52% market share in the US – around 80,000 of Musk’s 155,000 employees would be subject to the ban, if the general statistics prove accurate. And that’s without counting everyone who uses a Mac computer or an iPad. (Note: The lion’s share of these workers would be at Tesla, which employs around 140,000 people.)

Today, as we’ve seen with the downsizing at X and Tesla, Musk’s management style could be described as “willing to shoot himself in the foot.” But subjecting more than half of its staff to a ban on one of the world’s most popular gadget makers seems particularly stupid. Yes, this would all be a headache (especially for the poor souls of its IT teams). But the real problem is that if Elon really cares about security, he’s only offering a half-measure.

Why stop at banning Apple devices? It is certain that the applications created by its companies for iOS are also threatened. So why not pull apps for X, Tesla and everyone else from the Apple App Store? This would provide even more insulation against the OpenAI threat, wouldn’t it?

Some of the strongest students here, I’m sure, have already raised their hands. “But if the problem is that ChatGPT is integrated at the operating system level, shouldn’t that also mean that Musk’s companies wouldn’t be allowed to use Windows?” How You’re right. And as a man of conviction, I expect Elon to ban those machines in its workplaces as well. I suspect its engineers will have a relatively painless time calculating the trajectory of orbiting spacecraft on a Ti-83.

Musk follow up his statements saying: “It is patently absurd that Apple is not smart enough to create its own AI, but is somehow able to guarantee that OpenAI will protect your security and privacy! Apple has no idea what actually happens once they transmit your data to OpenAI. They sell you downstream.

Unsurprisingly, this statement does not accurately describe the partnership between Apple and OpenAI, which readers were quick to point out using X’s additional contextual functionality. (On Musk’s website no less, oh the ignominy!) Apple says it will have its own AI models which will run either on the device or in a private computing cloud, and will only send data to OpenAI with a user’s explicit permission on a strict opt-in basis. So, despite Musk’s claims, there doesn’t appear to be much deception going on.

The bottom line is that as the founder and CEO of a handful of companies, Musk can do whatever he wants. And in this case, I encourage Elon to follow through. Show us that your messages are not a bluff, as some already claim. It’s time to mess around and find out.

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