Apple Bans Employees From Using ChatGPT Amid Its Own AI Efforts

Apple has restricted employee use of ChatGPT and other external artificial intelligence utilities amid the development of its own similar technology, The Wall Street Journal reports.

chatgpt for iphone feature
According to a document seen by The Wall Street Journal and individuals who claim to be familiar with the matter, Apple is concerned that AI tools could leak the company's confidential data. In addition to ChatGPT, Apple has barred staff from using GitHub's Copilot, a tool that helps write code with autocompletion.

Many businesses, such as banks, financial services, and healthcare institutions, have avoided adopting ChatGPT out of fear that their employees could inadvertently give the chatbot sensitive proprietary information. Samsung banned employee use of generative AI utilities like ChatGPT after discovering that staff had uploaded sensitive source code to the platform. The company was said to be concerned that data transmitted to artificial intelligence platforms including Bing and Google Bard could end up being disclosed to other users. JPMorgan Chase and Verizon have similarly banned use of these AI tools.

OpenAI has already sold Morgan Stanley a private ChatGPT service that allows employees to ask questions and analyze content in thousands of the bank's market research documents. Microsoft is working on a version of ChatGPT targeted at business customers to address privacy concerns.

The move comes in the context of Apple apparently working on its own large language models and AI technologies, led by senior vice president of Machine Learning and AI Strategy John Giannandrea. Giannandrea previously worked for Google and now reports directly to Apple CEO Tim Cook. The ‌Wall Street Journal‌ did not provide more information about what Apple's AI efforts encompass at this time.

OpenAI's ChatGPT has been accessible on the web and via several third-party iOS apps for some time, but yesterday the company released the first official ChatGPT app for the iPhone and iPad.

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Top Rated Comments

dumastudetto Avatar
28 months ago
People seem to forget that Apple already has pioneering and industry-leading AI with its Siri technologies baked into every Apple device.
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
a m u n Avatar
28 months ago
Stupid title — itʼs about privacy.

Imagine writing code using GitHub Copilot for iOS or xrOS and Microsoft and OpenAI having access to the code.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DrJR Avatar
28 months ago

I’m not sure how Apple can enforce this rule. It’s a super useful program and unfortunately Pandora’s box has been opened.
It is absolutely enforceable. I shudder at the thought of how tight their development ecosystem must be.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
lkrupp Avatar
28 months ago
"Apple is concerned that AI tools could leak the company's confidential data..."

That’s a perfectly valid concern and probably a good idea.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DrJR Avatar
28 months ago
GPT isn't good for much at higher levels of development work anyway. Apple is correct, whether or not it can control it, from a legal and security perspective. I applaud them.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
markgpearse Avatar
28 months ago
Totally appropriate for a business to control business-owned hardware and software used on their hardware.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)