Apple has prohibited the company’s use of the hugely popular artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot ChatGPT due to concerns that sensitive data could be exposed.
According to The Wall Street Journal, an internal document distributed to Apple staff prohibited using Microsoft-backed ChatGPT and comparable AI tools while the company was building its own AI technology. According to the paper, the iPhone developer is concerned about employees utilizing the programs and disclosing confidential company information.
It also cited a limitation on GitHub’s AI tool Copilot, which is owned by Microsoft and automates the creation of software code. This internal prohibition follows the release of the ChatGPT app for iOS in the Apple app store on May 18.
The new software is now accessible for iPhone and iPad users in the United States, but it plans to spread to other countries “in the coming weeks,” with an Android version to follow “soon.”
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Rowan Cheung, the founder of The Rundown newsletter, also took his perspective to Twitter about Apple going opposite from other companies that are adopting AI.
Other Companies Restricting ChatGPT Usage:
Along with Apple, other significant corporations have banned internal ChatGPT usage. On May 2, Samsung issued an internal memo prohibiting the usage of generative AI technologies such as ChatGPT.
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In Samsung’s case, the policy was implemented in response to an event where Samsung employees uploaded “sensitive code” to the site.
Employees who use such apps on personal devices were warned not to upload any company information or face “disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment.”
Along with Samsung and Apple, other firms also restricted their employees from using ChatGPT due to the same concerns. While JPMorgan put restrictions on the tool in February as normal restrictions on third-party software, the Bank of America also put ChatGPT to a list of unapproved apps that already include WhatsApp in the same month, per Financial News.
In internal meetings, the bank also reminded its workers that new technology must be reviewed before being used in communications.
According to Financial News, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs are also limiting the usage of ChatGPT, an AI-powered bot, as Wall Street financial firms tread carefully on this platform that has become an online phenomenon.
Most of these organizations that have prohibited employee use of AI chatbots are also developing their applications, similar to how Apple is developing its AI products.