Before ChatGPT can reply to a single iMessage for you, you have to hand over your entire Mac's message history. The setup process for OpenAI's new plugin is, in itself, a warning sign.
Right now, the feature is only available to Mac users on ChatGPT Work and Codex, letting them search messages, draft replies, and send them directly from the desktop app. In the demo scenario OpenAI shared, a user asks ChatGPT to dig up a conversation they missed in the Messages app the day before—ChatGPT then drafts a reply and sends it on their behalf.
According to Bloomberg, enabling the plugin requires a string of permissions: users must first agree, in the setup screen, to let ChatGPT read local Messages data on their Mac. Then, in macOS System Settings, they need to grant ChatGPT "Full Disk Access" under privacy settings, along with permissions for contact names and automation tools. In other words, nobody's installing this by accident—every single step requires an active yes.
An OpenAI spokesperson told Engadget that the plugin doesn't index users' text messages, and ChatGPT will only pull up past conversations when explicitly asked to do so. The chatbot also won't send any messages on a user's behalf without their direct approval first. "We take user privacy very seriously, and this plugin was designed to be transparent and keep users in control of their Messages data," the company said.
It's unclear whether OpenAI developed this plugin in partnership with Apple. Apple has a history of blocking unauthorized third-party access to its services—back in 2024, it repeatedly cut off the chat app Beeper Mini's access to iMessage until Beeper gave up trying to patch its way back in. Relations between Apple and OpenAI haven't exactly been warm lately either: Apple sued OpenAI back in July, accusing it of stealing trade secrets and alleging that OpenAI deliberately poached Apple employees to obtain confidential company information.
