Elon Musk, iPhone owner, hates OpenAI so badly that he now bans iPhones from his company

Musk is ironically an iPhone owner

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Key notes

  • Musk bans iPhones at his company due to ChatGPT’s integration.
  • Visitors must store phones “in a Faraday cage.”
  • Musk openly criticizes the Microsoft-backed company for prioritizing profits over privacy.

Elon Musk and OpenAI have a perplexing relationship. The billionaire, who was a former investor at the Microsoft-backed company, has previously taken the AI company to court over allegations of breach of contract.  

And now, we’ve arrived at an update of this saga. After reports that OpenAI’s popular chatbot ChatGPT is arriving on Apple devices, Musk said that he’s banning iPhones at his company. Even if you come as a visitor, you’ll be required to store your phones “in a Faraday cage.”

“If Apple integrates OpenAI at the OS level, then Apple devices will be banned at my companies. That is an unacceptable security violation,” Musk says on X (formerly Twitter).

Musk hates OpenAI so badly and openly that he even shares a Tamil movie meme, depicting a visual satire that criticizes how Apple and OpenAI might handle user data. He further says that OpenAI is “selling you down the river,” claiming they prioritize profits over user privacy and data security.

After the iPhone 15 launch at the WWDC 2023 event last year, Musk responded to Tim Cook’s tweet about the event saying that he’s “buying one.” This brings us to one question, though: how can he own an iPhone 15 while simultaneously banning iPhones from his company’s premises?

Apple arrived with a handful of massive announcements at the annual WWDC event this week. Besides launching iOS 18, which follows Microsoft’s footsteps in integrating more AI features into its OS, the Cupertino tech firm also announced that it’ll let you use your iPhone from your Mac, among other features.