2 weeks Ago
SAN JOSE: Apple's new suite of AI features, available only in English until now, is being rolled out in new languages, including French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, Korean and Chinese. Localised English for Singapore and India is also available. With the release of the iOS 18.
4 operating system on iPhones, Apple's proprietary AI software now supports ten languages, and is now also available to iPhone and iPad users in the European Union. However Apple's long-awaited AI-powered reboot of Siri has yet to make an appearance. The company recently suffered a setback in its AI race with other tech giants.
The iPhone manufacturer is taking longer than planned to roll out its improved Siri assistant software. The new, extensive AI features will only be available "next year," an Apple spokeswoman said three weeks ago, after the feature had been expected this spring. The currently available features, which the company is marketing as Apple Intelligence, can summarise emails and text messages, create custom emoji symbols and retrieve information on demand.
For data privacy, most of the AI features also run locally on the mobile device so users do not need to send information to Apple's servers. For more complex queries, a secured connection accesses Apple's cloud service for greater computing power. Additionally, users can opt to have questions answered online by OpenAI's ChatGPT system.
Initially, Apple's AI system was unavailable in the European Union due to legal uncertainties stemming from the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). These EU regulations impose strict requirements on large technology companies, known as "gatekeepers," and mandate that they provide access to their platforms for other providers and refrain from favouring their own services. Apple had expressed concerns that these regulations could compromise the privacy and security mechanisms of its AI functions.
Following intensive discussions with the European Commission, Apple announced that the AI features would be made available in the EU with the release of iOS 18.4. The software was adapted to comply with European regulations.
Apple Intelligence is available on iPhones, supporting all iPhone 16 models as well as the two flagship models of the previous generation, the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. The system is also compatible with Macs featuring Apple Silicon chips (M1, M2, M3 and their variants) and modern iPads with an M1 chip, as well as the iPad mini from the 7th generation (2024) with an A17 Pro chip and at least 8 GB of RAM. – dpa/Tribune News Service.
