After Samsung, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and other big companies, Apple has now decided to ban the use of artificial intelligence-supported chatbots such as ChatGPT, Bard and Bing among its employees. The move is part of Apple’s efforts to prevent accidental disclosure of sensitive data and coincides with plans to create similar technology in-house.

According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, Apple also warned its employees not to use Microsoft Copilot, a software that helps write software code. The ban comes amid concerns about how these AI chatbots like ChatGPT handle user data. These platforms have a combined user base of hundreds of millions, and the way they use user data to train their AI is a serious concern.

Earlier this year, a bug was discovered in ChatGPT that allowed some users to see chat history threads of other users. This caused OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, to temporarily take the service offline. Following these privacy concerns, OpenAI offered users the option to turn off their chat history, which would prevent the AI ​​model from being trained on their data. Despite this move, companies like Apple were not convinced and decided to restrict the use of these chatbots.

Samsung took a similar stance, banning its employees from using AI chatbots like ChatGPT after the tool’s source code was reportedly leaked. The company is reportedly developing AI tools and instructing its employees not to share any company or personal information with third-party chatbots.

Apple’s answer seems to develop an alternative to ChatGPT. Led by former Google employee John Giannandrea, who is now Apple’s senior vice president, the company is reportedly developing major language models. The development was hinted at during Apple’s latest earnings call, where CEO Tim Cook voiced concerns about progress in manufacturer artificial intelligence and highlighted the need for a careful and thoughtful approach. The ChatGPT app is now also available for iOS users in the US, allowing users to enjoy speech AI at their fingertips.