ChatGPT on Mac gains plugin to read and respond to Apple iMessages
OpenAI has released a Mac plugin that lets ChatGPT Work and Codex users search, draft and send Apple iMessages, raising privacy and security concerns.
In an example posted by OpenAI, a user asked ChatGPT to look for conversations they had missed the previous day in the Messages app, then used the chatbot to write and send their reply. Bloomberg noted that the feature could raise privacy and security concerns.
The plugin is opt-in, and Bloomberg said users will have to take several steps to enable it. During setup, users must allow ChatGPT to access their Mac's on-device Messages history when the permissions screen appears, change their privacy preferences in System Settings to give ChatGPT Full Disk Access, and grant ChatGPT access to their contacts and automation tools. The requirements mean nobody would be installing the plugin by accident.
It is not clear whether OpenAI worked with Apple to develop the plugin. Apple has previously cut off third parties' access to its services when those services did not have permission; in 2024, for example, it repeatedly disabled Beeper Mini's access to iMessage until Beeper stopped releasing fixes that re-enabled the integration. Apple also sued OpenAI in July, accusing it of trade secret theft and claiming that OpenAI had hired Apple employees specifically to obtain confidential company information.