GoKawiilOpenAI has launched a new ChatGPT feature that could set off privacy alarms for Apple users. The AI chatbot can now scan through your iMessages if you allow it to. It can also read, write and send texts on your behalf, OpenAI announced in a post on X.
Apple’s iMessage is the native messaging service for iPhones and other Apple devices. The new feature, called Apple Messages Plugin, is currently available only to users of ChatGPT Work and Codex on Mac desktops, not on mobile devices. You can choose whether to add the plugin, but you’ll have to go through several permission procedures before it’s active.
OpenAI said ChatGPT won’t store your messages and that the plugin will run only on your local Mac computer, not on OpenAI’s cloud servers, as reported by Bloomberg. But despite such assertions, the new feature could be troubling for Apple, which for decades has marketed itself as protective of customer privacy.
OpenAI and Apple originally launched a partnership in June 2024 to integrate ChatGPT into iOS, iPadOS and MacOS systems. But the relationship became strained in July this year, when Apple sued OpenAI in federal court, alleging Sam Altman’s company stole trade secrets and misappropriated intellectual property.
OpenAI can already access some Apple customer apps, though they all require permissions. ChatGPT Health can analyze information in the iPhone and iPad Health apps. The chatbot can also work with Mac apps such as Xcode, Notes and Terminal.
Representatives for OpenAI and Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Big mistrust in Big Tech
The question is: Do Apple users really want OpenAI’s ChatGPT — the world’s most widely used chatbot — to have access to its messaging app?
OpenAI has faced a litany of lawsuits over the past few years, accused of misusing customer data to train its AI models and also of giving it to other companies. (Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in 2025 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)
According to a class-action lawsuit filed earlier this year, OpenAI allegedly shared private ChatGPT customer data with Meta and Google. In 2023, OpenAI was accused of stealing huge amounts of data, including medical records and information about children, to train ChatGPT. The New York Times, Encyclopedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster have also sued OpenAI, claiming it used copyrighted material to train its AI models.
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