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OpenAI has expanded ChatGPT’s capabilities on Mac computers, allowing the AI assistant to interact directly with Apple’s Messages application, a development that is raising new questions about the privacy of personal communications.
The feature, rolled out on Thursday, enables ChatGPT to read, search, compose and send messages through the Messages app. It can also analyse conversation history and provide users with summaries or other information drawn from their messages.
AI Moves Deeper Into Private Conversations
The integration represents a notable expansion of ChatGPT’s access to information stored on users’ devices.
While AI assistants have increasingly gained the ability to work with files, applications and personal information, messages are particularly sensitive because they can contain private conversations involving not only the account holder but also other people.
That has prompted questions about how personal communications are handled when an external AI system is given permission to interact with them.
Apple had not immediately commented on the development at the time of the report.
OpenAI Says Users Must Give Permission
OpenAI says the Messages integration does not operate silently.
Users must approve multiple permissions before ChatGPT can interact with the application. During setup, the system informs users that ChatGPT will have access to message history stored on their Mac.
The integration also requires users to adjust certain macOS privacy settings, including Full Disk Access, while ChatGPT requires permission to access contacts and automation features.
OpenAI said the feature operates locally on the Mac using existing macOS capabilities, including AppleScript and Accessibility tools, rather than creating an index containing all of a user’s messages.
Privacy Becomes the Central Question
The development puts renewed attention on the balance between AI convenience and personal-data protection.
Giving ChatGPT access to messages can make tasks such as searching conversations, drafting replies and summarising lengthy exchanges easier. However, the same access potentially exposes highly personal information to an AI-powered system if permissions are granted.
The issue is particularly significant for Apple, which has made privacy a major part of its product strategy.
ChatGPT Moves Closer to Apple’s AI Territory
The integration also places ChatGPT closer to an area Apple itself is developing for its AI-powered Siri.
Future Siri capabilities are expected to allow Apple’s assistant to work with information stored on users’ devices, including messages. Access to personal device data is therefore becoming an important part of the competition between Apple’s own AI systems and third-party assistants.
ChatGPT already works with several Mac applications, including Xcode, Notes and Terminal, but Messages presents a more sensitive category of information because it contains private communications.
Apple has also previously taken action against third-party services seeking to reproduce or extend iMessage functionality.
OpenAI’s Wider Push Into Personal Data
The Messages integration follows OpenAI’s broader expansion into information stored on users’ devices.
The company recently introduced functionality allowing ChatGPT to analyse information from Apple’s Health app on iPhones and iPads, although Apple’s operating systems require users to explicitly approve the sharing of that information with ChatGPT.
The direction reflects a broader shift in AI assistants from answering questions in isolation to becoming tools capable of interacting with a user’s digital environment.
Nigeria’s Cybersecurity Concerns Add Another Layer
The development also comes against the backdrop of previous cybersecurity warnings concerning OpenAI’s AI systems.
In December 2025, Nigeria’s National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), through its Computer Emergency Readiness and Response Team, warned about vulnerabilities affecting GPT-4o and GPT-5.
The agency said researchers had identified vulnerabilities involving indirect prompt injection that could potentially manipulate ChatGPT through malicious content encountered while browsing or processing information. It advised users and organisations to exercise caution when using browsing and memory features with untrusted sources.
Convenience Versus Control
For users, the new Messages capability could make ChatGPT considerably more useful as a personal assistant on Mac.
But its usefulness comes with a corresponding responsibility to understand exactly what permissions have been granted and what information the AI can access.
The development highlights a broader question facing the technology industry: as AI assistants gain access to increasingly personal parts of users’ digital lives, how should convenience, privacy and user control be balanced?
For Apple and OpenAI, the Messages integration brings that debate directly into one of the most private areas of everyday digital communication.
