OpenAI’s ChatGPT can now read your iMessages on a Mac. Here is what the new Apple Messages plugin does, and what it means for your privacy.

The plugin was launched on August 20 for ChatGPT Work and Codex users on Apple silicon Macs. It can read, search, summarise and draft iMessages, SMS and RCS texts.

To work, it needs three macOS permissions: Full Disk Access, Contacts and Automation. Full Disk Access is the broadest permission a Mac app can request. It covers far more than messages, including mail and backups.

OpenAI says the plugin runs locally and does not build a permanent index of your messages. But when you ask it to summarise a thread, that content is processed by its models and leaves your Mac.

Sending needs your approval by default. You can switch on “always allow” for a chat, after which it sends without asking.

The consent gap is the real issue. Your contacts never agreed to have an AI read their messages. End-to-end encryption does not stop software you have authorised.

Apple sued OpenAI in July over trade secrets. It has not blocked the plugin yet.