OpenAI Executive Dismisses Elon Musk's Spyware Claims Over Apple Deal
OpenAI CTO Mira Murati pushes back against Elon Musk's criticism of the new Apple integration, emphasizing strict user privacy protections. The tech company also adds two high-profile executives amid growing speculation about a future public offering.
OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati publicly dismisses Elon Musk's accusation that the company's new integration with Apple iPhones acts as "creepy spyware." Speaking at Fortune's Most Powerful Women dinner, Murati states that this is simply Musk's opinion and emphasizes that OpenAI cares deeply about user privacy and product safety. She frames the public's misunderstanding of the technology as the biggest current risk facing the company.
The controversial partnership, revealed at Apple's annual developer conference, allows iPhone users to route complex queries to OpenAI's technology when Apple's native AI falls short. To address privacy concerns, Apple explicitly states that it does not share user data with OpenAI and that OpenAI is prohibited from training its models on Apple user information. Despite these assurances, Musk aggressively denounces the alliance and vows to ban Apple devices from his companies.
Alongside defending the Apple partnership, OpenAI expands its leadership team by hiring former Nextdoor CEO Sarah Friar as chief financial officer and former Instagram and Twitter executive Kevin Weil as chief product officer. While Silicon Valley widely views these high-level appointments as preparation for an eventual initial public offering, Murati carefully sidesteps the speculation. She instead describes the new hires as a sign that the company is entering its next phase of development.