Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) has restricted the use of ChatGPT and other external artificial intelligence (AI) tools for some employees as it develops its own competing technology, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The WSJ cited a document while reporting that Apple is “concerned” workers who use these types of programs could release confidential data. Apple also told its coders not to use Microsoft-owned GitHub’s Copilot, which automates software code writing, the document said.
ChatGPT, created by Microsoft-backed OpenAI, is a chatbot derived from a large language model that is able to answer questions, write essays and perform other tasks with lightening speed.
Here lies the rub: when people use these models, data is sent back to the developer to enable improvements, presenting the chance for an organization to inadvertently share confidential information.
In March, OpenAI took ChatGPT offline due to a bug in an open-source library which allowed users to see titles from another active user’s chat history. The first message of a newly-created conversation was visible in someone else’s chat history if both users were active around the same time. The bug is now patched, according to OpenAI.
Apple tight-lipped on AI plans
Apple with its famous penchant for secrecy finally opened up about AI. Apple CEO Tim Cook told analysts during its earnings call in May that the tech giant is planning to “weave” artificial intelligence into its products – but thinks there are still “issues that need to be sorted” with the technology.
“We view AI as huge,” Cook said during Apple’s earning call when he was asked what he thought about AI and where Apple was planning to use it.
Cook responded that Apple would not reveal “product roadmaps” but that AI was a key focus for Apple, and pointed to products such as its fall detection that are already built on such systems.
Apple has stayed largely silent on AI, even as its competitors have rushed to release AI-powered new products. Again, this is as much anyone is ever going to glean from Apple about new products.
Cook himself once joked that the tech giant is more secretive than the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Apple is yet to release any products built on the kind of generative AI that powers text systems such as ChatGPT, or image creation tools such as Midjourney.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
Follow her on Twitter: @UttaraProactive