OpenAI said the Messages connection must be explicitly enabled by the user. The company also said ChatGPT does not build an index containing a person’s entire message history. Instead, the integration operates locally on the Mac and relies on existing macOS capabilities, including AppleScript and Accessibility, to interact with the app.
Setting up the feature requires permissions on both sides of the integration. ChatGPT displays a notice explaining that it will access message history stored on the computer. Users must also change privacy settings in macOS, including granting ChatGPT Full Disk Access and allowing access to contact names and automation capabilities. Those requirements give users several opportunities to approve the connection before ChatGPT can interact with their messages. They also place the feature within Apple’s existing Mac permission system rather than giving OpenAI unrestricted access by default.
The integration arrives amid tension between the two companies. Apple sued OpenAI last month, alleging that the AI company took information related to products that had not yet been released. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the Messages feature.
OpenAI has also been expanding the types of personal information ChatGPT can work with across Apple devices. It recently introduced support for analyzing information from the Health app on iPhone and iPad. Apple’s mobile operating systems require users to specifically authorize sharing that information with ChatGPT.
Messages presents a particularly notable expansion because Apple has long emphasized privacy around its products and communications services. It also overlaps with capabilities planned for Apple’s upcoming Siri AI, which can search through messages and other information stored on users’ devices. That creates another area where ChatGPT could perform tasks Apple intends to make available through its own assistant. Access to personal content on devices is expected to be one of Siri AI’s distinguishing capabilities compared with third-party chatbots.
Apple has previously intervened when outside software attempted to extend access to iMessage. The company shut down Beeper Mini, an app designed to make iMessage available on Android devices.
For ChatGPT users on Mac, the new integration goes further than simply analyzing text copied into a chatbot. Once the required permissions are enabled, ChatGPT can directly interact with Messages, search conversations and carry out messaging actions while using macOS controls to connect the two applications.
This analysis is based on reporting from Yahoo Finance courtesy of Bloomberg.
Image courtesy of SQ Magazine.
This article was generated with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy and quality.
