Yesterday, following Apple’s announcement of a partnership with OpenAI to combine assist for ChatGPT into the corporate’s units, Elon Musk did what he at all times does: he tweeted. The proprietor of X wrote, on X, that he would ban Apple units at his corporations “If Apple integrates OpenAI on the OS stage.”. And to that I say: Go proper forward. And when you’re at it, take away your organization’s software program from Apple’s App Retailer too.
Musk’s corporations (no less than the main ones) at the moment embody Tesla, SpaceX, X, X AI and Neuralink. Even when we’re simply speaking about telephones — which in keeping with Counterpoint Analysis Apple at the moment has a 52 p.c market share within the US — round 80,000 of Musk’s 155,000 staff can be topic to the ban, if common statistics maintain true. And that’s not counting anybody who makes use of a Mac laptop or iPad. (Observe: The lion’s share of those employees can be at Tesla, which employs round 140,000 folks.)
And guests must examine their Apple units on the door, the place they are going to be saved in a Faraday cage
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 10, 2024
Now as we’ve seen with employees reductions at X and Tesla, Musk’s administration fashion may finest be described as “prepared to shoot himself within the foot.” However subjecting greater than half of his employees to a ban overlaying probably the most in style gadget makers on the planet appears particularly obtuse. Sure, all of this is able to be a headache (particularly for the poor souls on his IT groups). However what’s really at concern is that, if Elon really cares about safety, he is solely proposing a half-measure.
Why cease at simply banning Apple units? Certainly, the apps his corporations makes for iOS are in jeopardy as effectively. So why not pull the apps for X, Tesla and all of the others from Apple’s App Retailer? That may provide much more insulation in opposition to the specter of OpenAI, would it not not?
It’s patently absurd that Apple isn’t good sufficient to make their very own AI, but is one way or the other able to making certain that OpenAI will defend your safety & privateness!
Apple has no clue what’s really happening as soon as they hand your knowledge over to OpenAI. They’re promoting you down the river.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 10, 2024
A number of the stronger college students right here, I am positive, have had their arms raised by now. “But when the issue is that ChatGPT is built-in on the OS stage, should not that additionally imply Musk’s corporations can be barred from utilizing Home windows?” How proper you might be. And as a person of conviction, I absolutely count on Elon will ban these machines from his workplaces as effectively. I think his engineers can have a comparatively painless time calculating the trajectory of spaceships into orbit on a Ti-83.
Musk adopted up his statements by saying “It’s patently absurd that Apple isn’t good sufficient to make their very own AI, but is one way or the other able to making certain that OpenAI will defend your safety & privateness! Apple has no clue what’s really happening as soon as they hand your knowledge over to OpenAI. They’re promoting you down the river.”
To no shock, that assertion doesn’t precisely describe Apple and OpenAI’s partnership, which readers shortly identified utilizing X’s extra context characteristic. (On Musk’s personal web site no much less, oh the ignominy!) Apple says it would have its personal AI fashions that may both run on-device or in a non-public compute cloud, and can solely ship knowledge to OpenAI with a consumer’s specific permission on a strict opt-in foundation. So regardless of Musk’s claims, there doesn’t appear to be quite a lot of trickery there.
The underside line is that, because the founder and CEO of a handful of corporations, Musk can do what he needs. And on this case, I encourage Elon to comply with by way of. Present us that your posts aren’t a bluff, as some are already claiming. It’s time to fuck round and discover out.
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