Apple Is Quietly Blocking Access to ChatGPT Tool

Apple Is Quietly Blocking Access to ChatGPT Tool

(RightWing.org) – Tech giant Apple seems to have finally found a technology it doesn’t like. The latest update to the email app BlueMail uses a language model linked to the popular ChatGPT artificial intelligence tool. Now it turns out Apple has blocked that update from its devices.

BlueMail is a free email and calendar app that works on a variety of platforms, from Windows PCs to Android and iOS phones. The latest version, released last week, includes a feature called GEM AI, which is based on the GPT-3 language model and produced by OpenAI, the company behind the ChatGPT app. BlueMail says GEM AI can “streamline the process of summarizing and writing emails” by automatically finishing a prompt written by the user.

However, when users of Apple devices tried to download the new update, they found it was blocked. Ben Volach of Blix Inc, the company behind BlueMail, is protesting it’s being treated unfairly. He told Reuters, “Other GPT-powered apps seem not to be restricted.”

Apple admits it rejected the BlueMail update but says there’s a good reason. Leaked documents reveal that because the AI app can produce content inappropriate for everyone to see, Apple asked Blix to revise BlueMail’s age rating to age 17+. So far, Blix hasn’t done this; Volach says other apps with “ChatGPT-like features” aren’t age-restricted and insists if BlueMail has to be adults only, the others should be treated the same.

Despite its reputation for innovation, Apple seems wary of AI. Microsoft has already integrated ChatGPT into its Bing search engine, while Google is working on two different AI projects. Apple, however, hasn’t joined the race yet. It’s also taking a cautious approach to the apps that already exist. Despite Volach’s complaints, the iOS version of Bing is age-restricted. If AI is the future, Apple doesn’t seem sure it wants to be part of it.

Copyright 2023, RightWing.org