Lower than one month in the past Apple took to the stage at WWDC 2024 to unveil Apple Intelligence, together with integration with OpenAI’s ChatGPT on Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Now, a recently-fixed ChatGPT privateness clanger has everybody trying sideways at Apple’s new AI bedfellow.
As reported by The Verge, “Till Friday, OpenAI’s not too long ago launched ChatGPT macOS app had a doubtlessly worrying safety challenge: it wasn’t exhausting to search out your chats saved in your laptop and browse them in plain textual content.” The end result? Anybody with entry to your Mac and malicious intent “may simply learn your conversations with ChatGPT and the info contained inside them,” presumably even utilizing a distant app.
The difficulty was noticed by developer Pedro José Pereira Vieito, who uncovered that “it was doable to have one other app entry these recordsdata and present you the textual content of your conversations proper after they occurred.” By merely altering the identify of a ChatGPT dialog file, the chat therein can be revealed in plain textual content.
ChatGPT scramble
Naturally, OpenAI has launched an replace to encrypt these chats, so if in case you have downloaded ChatGPT on macOS, it is best to try this straight away. “We’re conscious of this challenge and have shipped a brand new model of the appliance which encrypts these conversations” OpenAI informed The Verge.
Seems, Pereira Vieito found the problem as a result of he was interested by OpenAI’s resolution to choose out of utilizing Apple’s app sandbox protections on macOS, that are solely required for apps supplied on the macOS App Retailer.
The difficulty has been squashed with out a lot fuss, however it’s a worrying misstep for an organization that has simply signed a significant co-beneficial deal to convey its AI LLM to all of Apple’s finest iPhones, iPads, and Macs.
Apple prides itself on making merchandise with bulletproof privateness and safety measures, and its Apple Intelligence providing isn’t any exception. Apple was eager to focus on the significance of on-device processing for its new AI instruments, in addition to Non-public Cloud Compute for requests and options that require cloud-based processing. A lot of Apple’s branding and status depends closely on the notion that it’s a firm that thrives on privateness, so Apple is certain to be watching OpenAI carefully. There isn’t any prospect of Apple pulling the plug however with rumors of a Google Gemini deal and affirmation that ChatGPT is not going to be Apple’s unique AI accomplice for all issues “GPT”, Open AI might want to maintain its geese in a row if it needs to hold onto that seat on the desk.