The Elon Musk and Apple AI drama explained

Tensions had risen between Elon Musk and Apple over recent years, but it had appeared that their beef has officially been briefly squashed. However, things have taken another turn and they're at loggerheads again.

In the latest example of Musk hitting out at Apple, Musk has said he will ban Apple devices at his companies, which presumably means it will affect SpaceX, Tesla and Twitter/X.

It comes as Apple said that it plans to integrate OpenAI’s technology into its iPhones. As a result, users using Siri will have the option to put some queries to OpenAi's large language model, ChatGPT.

Writing on Twitter/X, Musk called the update an “unacceptable security violation”.

He wrote: “If Apple integrates OpenAI at the OS level, then Apple devices will be banned at my companies. That is an unacceptable security violation.

“And visitors will have to check their Apple devices at the door, where they will be stored in a Faraday cage."

He added: "It’s patently absurd that Apple isn’t smart enough to make their own AI, yet is somehow capable of ensuring that OpenAI will protect your security & privacy!

"Apple has no clue what’s actually going on once they hand your data over to OpenAI. They’re selling you down the river."

“Requests are not stored by OpenAI, and users’ IP addresses are obscured,” OpenAI said in its announcement, with OpenAI and Apple both stressing that it would include privacy protections.

Musk has history of taking issue with Apple. Back in 2022, Musk went on a rant about the tech giant, accusing the company of threatening to "withhold Twitter from its App Store" and ceasing advertising on Twitter.

"Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in America?" Musk wrote, tagging Apple CEO Tim Cook.

In a series of memes, Musk mocked Apple accusing the company of building a monopoly and censoring other companies.

While in the past Musk has slammed Apple's 30 percent Apple Store fee, things were starting to get personal.

Here's a timeline of what happened back then.

Musk Moderation

Tensions began after Musk acquired Twitter. Apple began pulling advertising from the platform, along with other companies, due to loosening moderation. Musk has promised "free speech" on Twitter and unbanned several controversial accounts.

This has left advertisers nervous to invest in the platform, including Apple.

Lack of moderation could also mean Apple had grounds to remove Twitter from the App Store for violating its rules. Other platforms like Parler have been banned from the App Store for this reason.

ElonMusk / Twitter

"They say that they are going to continue to moderate so I think that I’m counting on them to continue to do that," Cook told CBS News in November 2022.

However, the official Apple account deleted all of its tweets and the company’s App Store lead Phil Schiller deactivated his account entirely.

Musk accused Apple of censorship.

Fees

Part of Musk's Monday rant included heavy criticism of Apple's 30 percent App Store fee.

Apple takes a 30 percent fee from all digital content purchased in an iPhone app, Musk has openly criticized this "secret tax" multiple times in the past.

Other companies like Spotify and Meta have also openly criticized Apple's App Store fee.

But the 30 percent fee has exasperated Musk's frustration with Apple as he is looking for ways to make Twitter more profitable.

Posted a meme to Twitter, Musk insinuated he would "go to war" with Apple rather than pay the 30 percent fee.

ElonMusk/Twitter

Musk and Cook solve their "misunderstanding"

The Tesla founder said he met with Cook in November 2022 where he had a tour of Apple headquarters in Cupertino, CA.

Following their sit down, Musk said, "Tim was clear that Apple never considered" removing Twitter from the App Store.

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