OpenAI Launches ChatGPT Plugin for Apple Messages, Raising Fresh Privacy Concerns

OpenAI has rolled out a new Apple Messages plugin for ChatGPT that allows users to search conversations, draft replies and send messages directly through the Messages app on a Mac.

The new integration gives ChatGPT access to users’ iMessage, SMS and RCS conversations stored on their computers, opening the door to a range of AI-powered messaging features. Users can ask ChatGPT to find information buried in old conversations, summarise chats, suggest replies and compose messages on their behalf.

The feature is currently available through the ChatGPT desktop experience on compatible Apple Silicon Macs, with access initially focused on ChatGPT Work and Codex users. To activate it, users must grant ChatGPT permissions to access their Messages data and Full Disk Access on macOS.

OpenAI says the plugin is designed with privacy controls in place. The company says it does not create a full index of users’ messages and only accesses message history when a user specifically asks ChatGPT to use it. Messages are also processed locally on the Mac, according to OpenAI.

There is also a safeguard around outgoing messages. By default, ChatGPT must receive the user’s approval before sending a drafted message through Apple Messages. Users can therefore review what the AI has written before it reaches a contact.

Despite those protections, the integration has raised fresh privacy and security questions, particularly because Messages can contain highly personal conversations, financial information, passwords, photographs and other sensitive details involving not only the user but also people they communicate with.

The requirement for Full Disk Access has attracted particular attention because that permission gives an application broad access to files stored on a Mac. While OpenAI says the plugin does not automatically build a database of messages, the level of access required has prompted questions about how users should balance convenience against privacy.

The development also comes at an interesting time in the relationship between Apple and OpenAI. Apple has historically maintained tight control over iMessage, while the two companies are separately involved in a legal dispute over alleged misuse of Apple trade secrets.

For OpenAI, the Messages integration represents another step toward turning ChatGPT from a chatbot into an AI agent capable of performing tasks across a user’s computer.

For Apple users, however, the feature raises a bigger question: how much access should an AI assistant have to private conversations in exchange for convenience? As AI systems become increasingly capable of acting on behalf of users, that balance between automation, privacy and user control is likely to become an even bigger issue.