Apple prevents updating to the Email app using ChatGPT technology

(Reuters) – Apple Inc. (AAPL.O) has blocked an update to its BlueMail email app, which uses a customized version of OpenAI’s GPT-3 language model, the app developer’s co-founder told Reuters on Thursday.

“Apple has blocked the BlueMail update and continues to treat BlueMail unfairly and discriminate against us,” said Ben Vollach of Blix.

“Other applications running GPT appear to be unrestricted,” he added.

Apple, which declined to update the app last week, has asked the company to revise the app’s age rating for those over 17 or implement content filtering, as BlueMail may produce content not suitable for all audiences, according to a document seen by Reuters.

“We want justice. If we’re required to be over 17, then others should too,” Volach said on Twitter, adding that several other apps advertising ChatGPT-like features listed in the Apple App Store don’t have age restrictions.

Apple, which was looking into the complaint, said developers have the option to challenge the denial through the App Review Board process.

“It indicates to us that the company may screen applications with ChatGPT functionality in the same way it does others where there are concerns about the quality of the user experience and the appropriate nature of the content or service provided by the application,” DA analyst Davidson Thomas Forte said.

OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which can generate content in response to user prompts, has captivated the technology industry.

Microsoft (MSFT.O) and Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) Google announced their chatbots earlier in February.

While AI chatbots are an emerging field, early search and conversation results made headlines due to their unpredictability.

Additional reporting by Akash Sriram and Samrhitha Arunasalam in Bengaluru; Editing by Soumyadib Chakrabarty, Magu Samuel, and Krishna Chandra Eluri

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