Left: Musk posted a post on X on the 10th, criticizing Apple for introducing ChatGPT and bringing security risks. \Internet photo; Right: Apple launched a new AI system, Apple Intelligence, on the 10th. \Business Wire

Apple has joined the artificial intelligence (AI) arms race. On the 10th, the company launched a new AI system, Apple Intelligence, which integrates AI tools into the latest versions of iOS 18 and other systems, and cooperates with OpenAI to introduce ChatGPT into Apple’s applications. According to Apple, the new AI system will bring upgraded Siri, AI writing, voice transcription, self-made emojis and other features. American billionaire Musk criticized Apple for selling user data to OpenAI, posing a security risk, and threatened to ban Apple devices within his own company.

Apple launched a new AI system, Apple Intelligence, at the Worldwide Developers Conference on the 10th, which aims to integrate AI into existing applications and products, and introduce ChatGPT into Apple’s applications. According to the Wall Street Journal, after the new system goes online, Apple users will be able to communicate with Siri through text. When users ask Siri to do something it doesn’t know how to do, Siri will ask for permission from the user and ask ChatGPT for advice. According to Apple’s demonstration, Siri can help fill out PDF forms, find photos of the user’s driver’s license from the album, and extract the number on it to enter the form.

Apple will add summarization, rewriting and proofreading features to apps such as Memo, Mail, and Pages. Users can use AI to transcribe text when using Notes and call features. In addition, Apple will also provide features such as AI image generation and notification classification. Apple Intelligence will appear in new operating systems such as iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and MacOS Sequoia. It will first be available to users in the beta version this summer and will be put into more widespread use in the fall, but only in English in the initial stage. US media pointed out that users must buy new devices such as iPhone 15 Pro to experience these new features, and Apple is suspected of forcing users to replace their phones.

Musk has an old grudge against OpenAI

Altman, CEO of OpenAI, said he was happy to have the opportunity to integrate ChatGPT into Apple devices. But Musk was very dissatisfied with this and posted on the social platform X: “Apple is not smart enough to develop its own AI, but thinks it has the ability to ensure the privacy and data security of its users.” He claimed that if Apple integrates OpenAI’s technology at the operating system level, he will ban Apple devices in his own companies, including Tesla, Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX), etc.

One netizen said that Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson had previously refused to allow OpenAI to use her voice, but the latter still “cloned” her voice in the recently launched GPT-4o model, “Now imagine how they will use your data, even if you refuse them to use it.” Musk forwarded the post and said: “That’s it!” Musk has an old grudge against OpenAI. He was once a co-founder of the company, but later parted ways and founded xAI to develop a competitor to ChatGPT.

Apple explained that when running large AI models, the company will run its own servers through so-called “private cloud computing” to ensure privacy. Apple promised not to store or access this data for further AI model training, and said that although ChatGPT queries from Apple devices will be sent to OpenAI’s servers, user data will not be shared with OpenAI.

Samsung mocks Apple’s AI for being unoriginal

Microsoft, Google, Samsung and other companies have already integrated generative AI into their products. Over the past year, Microsoft’s stock price has risen by about 26%, and in January this year, it replaced Apple as the world’s most valuable company. The stock price of Nvidia, a major AI chip supplier, has also soared, and recently surpassed Apple’s market value. The Wall Street Journal pointed out that investors want Apple to join the AI ​​war, and Apple has been working hard to find ways to integrate generative AI into its products.

However, Apple’s stock price fell on the 10th, down nearly 2%. US media said that most of the “new features” announced by Apple have already been implemented in competitors’ products. An official Samsung X account posted: “Adding ‘Apple’ does not make it new or groundbreaking.”

(The Wall Street Journal/Bloomberg)