OpenAI has introduced a feature that taps directly into Apple’s iMessage app via ChatGPT, which is probably not going to go down well with the gang in Cupertino.
Bloomberg reported that the Thursday update allows ChatGPT users (currently only Work and Codex users on Apple Silicon Macs) to “take actions such as reading, writing and sending text messages,” as well as search messages for summaries and other info. Note that Apple not only tends to be sensitive about user privacy, but is actually suing OpenAI over claims of corporate espionage.
A preview of the feature on X shows that it effectively acts as a bridge between the macOS apps for ChatGPT and iMessage.
Everyday conversations just got easier with the new Apple Messages plugin.
Search messages, catch up on conversations, draft and send replies—all with ChatGPT on your Mac.
Now available in ChatGPT Work and Codex on desktop. pic.twitter.com/nicfZMuxZc
Bloomberg noted that users must click through “several opt-in menus in both the ChatGPT app and Apple’s own operating system” to activate the feature, including changing privacy-related preferences in Mac’s System Settings and giving the ChatGPT app contact and automation permissions. OpenAI told Bloomberg the feature runs locally on the Mac, uses existing system tools, and does not create an index of all messages.
Apple didn’t immediately respond to Bloomberg’s request for comment.
This may all seem a bit curious to Windows or Linux users, who are used to seeing desktop apps implement features like this using standard APIs with nary a complaint from the developer of the operating system.
Linking ChatGPT to iMessage does carry the risk of prompt injection, or some kind of third-party compromise of iMessage security. Yet Apple’s efforts to shut down third-party apps that try to tap into or bridge iMessage’s stack have drawn speculation that the motive is more about killing competition. When Beeper reverse engineered parts of iMessage to create Beeper Mini, an Android-compatible iMessage app, Apple promptly altered its stack to prevent the app from working.
As Bloomberg noted, Apple’s upcoming Siri AI is a direct competitor, Apple has a business incentive to keep OpenAI off its turf, and this is all in the context of that aforementioned lawsuit.
“At every level, from members of its Technical Staff to its Chief Hardware Officer, and in coordination with business partners, OpenAI has been stealing Apple’s trade secrets and confidential information,” read Apple’s complaint.
