ChatGPT Can Now Read Your Private Mac Messages and Send Texts for You, but There’s a Catch

OpenAI has rolled out a powerful new capability for Mac users, bringing its popular chatbot straight into their daily conversations. The latest feature gives the AI assistant access to private texts, offering to draft and send messages with minimal effort.

However, this added convenience comes with a critical warning about how much control people are actually willing to hand over.

OpenAI has rolled out an Apple Messages add-on for ChatGPT, letting users link their private inbox straight to the bot. According to the Sam Altman-led AI lab, making this connection brings a wide range of perks.

Individuals can rely on the extension to categorise, evaluate or rephrase their texts through the platform. Since the feature supports Codex and ChatGPT Work, it fits professional workflows as well as everyday conversations.

A short promo clip showcasing the add-on features a person asking the system to recommend reply options based on incoming texts from yesterday. You can likewise prompt ChatGPT to erase chats, compose and post texts for you, or locate specific details hidden far back in your chat log.

ChatGPT Can Read, Draft and Send Your Messages

When sending texts through the tool, OpenAI suggests users keep track of ChatGPT's activity and advises against enabling continuous clearance, stressing that this setting 'removes your final chance to review a message before ChatGPT sends it as you,' the tech firm explains.

Like many developments in the AI space, this update sparks several questions about user privacy.

Apple Privacy Concerns Grow Over ChatGPT Access

Apple has long branded itself as a fierce guardian of privacy and remains deeply cautious about protecting user chat data. An OpenAI integration that gives ChatGPT access to Apple users' information is likely to raise eyebrows.

The release comes against a backdrop of growing strain between both firms. Apple launched a lawsuit against OpenAI last month, accusing the business of taking confidential details about unreleased products.

Moreover, OpenAI's new capability further threatens to overlap with Apple's forthcoming Siri AI, which possesses the ability to scan user messages and local media. This capability could give Apple an advantage over external AI platforms.

Historically, Apple has moved to restrict similar competing software. In a recent case, the firm killed off an app called Beeper Mini that allowed Android users to access iMessage.

Full Disk Access Raises Further Security Questions

Speaking to Bloomberg, OpenAI explained that the plugin functions locally on an individual's computer and that it 'doesn't create an index of all someone's messages.' Still, the exact details of how this functions remain somewhat ambiguous.

Connecting the two systems requires navigating multiple opt-in steps across ChatGPT and macOS. During initial configuration, ChatGPT displays an authorisation box confirming that the desktop software will read on-device message logs.

Users also have to tweak privacy toggles within Mac System Settings, which include activating the Full Disk Access control. On top of that, ChatGPT needs explicit consent to read contact names and utilise automation features. This mirrors the configuration steps typically required for AI-driven desktop utilities like Codex Computer Use.

While ChatGPT currently interfaces with software like Xcode, Notes and Terminal, those built-in tools are much less likely to alarm Apple's privacy officers or marketing teams than an unapproved Messages extension.