Apple has delayed the approval of an update to an email app with AI-powered tools due to worries that it may generate inappropriate content for children, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing communications between the iPhone maker and the app developer.

An update to the email app, BlueMail, which uses a customized version of OpenAI‘s GPT-3 language model, was blocked last week, Ben Volach, co-founder of BlueMail developer Blix, told the Journal.

Volach in a Twitter post said Apple was unfairly targeting BlueMail and that the app has content filtering. Plac­ing a higher age restric­tion on the app could limit dis­tri­b­u­tion to po­ten­tial new users.

“We want fair­ness. If we’re re­quired to be 17-plus, then oth­ers should also have to,” he tweeted, adding that many other apps that advertise ChatGPT-like features listed on Apple’s app store do not have age restrictions.

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

Blix and Volach did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

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

Microsoft and Alphabet‘s Google both announced their own AI chatbots earlier in February.

While AI-powered chatbots are a nascent field, early search results and conversations have made headlines with their unpredictability.

Meanwhile, Snapchat parent Snap also announced the rolling out of an experimental chatbot feature running on OpenAI’s GPT technology for some users of its photo messaging app Snapchat. The feature dubbed as My AI will be running the latest version of OpenAI’s GPT technology which has been customised for Snapchat. The AI chatbot will be initially rolling out to Snapchat+ subscribers as an experiment, releasing this week. The social media platform has also requested users to submit their feedbacks to improve the chatbot for future application. 

© Thomson Reuters 2023