AI

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Apple does say the Mac is the best AI PC, and Microsoft is here for it. Starting today, Microsoft’s AI app called Copilot is now available on the Mac App Store. Copilot, which includes OpenAI and Microsoft models, was previously limited to the iPhone and iPad for Apple device users.

Welcome to Neural. AI moves fast. We help you keep up. Much has unfolded in AI Land since we last spoke. Amazon has officially announced Alexa+, OpenAI has made a feature cheaper that used to cost $200/month, Anthropic unveiled and released Claude 3.7, and Perplexity has previewed its new AI-driven Comet browser for agentic search.

[Update: Now available with new models and on the Mac.]

Craft is a robust and beautiful documents app with AI integration primarily through ChatGPT. Now Craft has shipped an AI-focused update that actually shows off the power of on-device, offline AI…

Apple may face new shareholder scrutiny over its AI practices following a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The document was filed ahead of Apple’s next Annual Shareholder Meeting that’s scheduled for February 25 at 8 a.m. PT.

The National Legal and Policy Center has submitted a proposal urging Apple to disclose how it acquires and uses external data for AI training. The filing, disclosed on the SEC’s website, highlights potential legal risks tied to data privacy and intellectual property rights. That’s despite Apple’s brand alignment with privacy-centric policies.

AI chatbots have changed the way we work, think through problems, and discover information. While Apple Intelligence doesn’t offer a chatbot experience yet, the best chatbot apps run on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

You don’t need to regularly use all of these AI chatbot apps to be familiar with the latest in AI. Follow my 9to5Neural series for that. But spending time with any of these apps will give you access to the newest AI technology.

Apple has officially gained a board seat on the Ultra Accelerator Link Consortium, a group of more than 65 members developing next generation AI accelerator architecture. Apple’s involvement will allow the company to influence the new standard and push for its adoption. That basically means that Apple will be involved in creating and promoting a standard for connecting a bunch of GPUs together in data centers powering AI tasks.

Artificial general intelligence (AGI) is a regular discussion point for many AI companies, but it seems that Apple has a radically different view than the majority. Here’s what the company just revealed.

Large language model AI has been a leap forward for me in how I use technology. So naturally, ChatGPT is something that my 7 and 11 year old kids are already familiar with, but there isn’t an AI that they interact with regularly. Enter Miko Mini, a fun and affordable AI bot that’s designed to create a safe and engaging environment for kids. The AI component is LLM powered so the bot is naturally conversational, and Miko has a host of content partners including Disney, Nickelodeon, and iHeartRadio. Read on for our impressions.

AI was supposed to lead to a supercycle of smartphone growth, not just among iPhone users but also Android. But it turns out, that’s simply not a thing yet—at least based on global 2024 smartphone trends. Sales are trending up, but not at all for the reasons you might expect.

The New York Times and Daily News have sued OpenAI and its investor Microsoft over suspicions that ChatGPT was trained on their copyrighted works. Now, it turns out, the lawyers’ research into the training data was erased last week by OpenAI engineers, presumably by accident.

Apple is just getting started with building AI into its various software platforms. However, one of its chief competitors, Microsoft, just learned an important lesson the company could take to heart: most consumers aren’t willing to pay very much for AI features.

Apple just shipped its first Apple Intelligence features and launched new AI-optimized Macs. But for all the AI hype, there are clearly limitations with the technology’s intelligence. And one of those limits was highlighted by Apple’s AI research through a recent experiment.

The Mac’s AI announcement week continues on. Apple doesn’t have any new AI-ready Macs to announce today, but instead we’re getting a dedicated Mac app from one of the biggest AI players. Claude is now available in a Mac app from Anthropic.

California is home to many of the country’s largest AI innovators, including Apple. Today, they’re all breathing a sigh of relief. Governor Gavin Newsom has vetoed a major AI regulatory bill that came to his desk, while nonetheless highlighting the ‘real threats’ posed by AI.

AI is being infused into so many different services and software features we use every day. Now, it’s impacting the music we listen to as well. Today Spotify announced that it’s rolling out AI playlist generation—formerly in a limited test—to several new countries, including the US. Here’s how it works.

AI is all the rage these days, with apps and services adopting some form of AI technology all the time. Apple is doing the same with its upcoming Apple Intelligence features. But some creative apps are pushing back, including the popular iPad app Procreate which says, “AI is not our future.”

Earlier this month, after Figma AI debuted as a set of tools for aiding designers’ process, things quickly went wrong. A designer asked Figma AI’s ‘Make Design’ feature to help him design a weather app, and on every one of his multiple tries, it produced a clone of Apple’s Weather app.

After the mishap made the news, Figma immediately disabled Make Design until a full investigation could be completed. Now, the company has outlined what went wrong and what they’re doing about it.

It’s only a few days until Apple unveils its own AI features at WWDC with an emphasize on privacy. The time is right for one of the company’s chief competitors, Microsoft, to address the ‘security disaster’ that its hallmark AI feature, Recall, is said to be.

Today Microsoft has done just that. They aren’t apologizing for Recall’s security holes, but they are making changes that are meant to alleviate users’ concerns.

Apple is set to unveil a host of AI-centric updates in iOS 18 and its other software platforms this Monday at WWDC.

Much of what the company will announce is playing catch-up to its competitors, though at a scale and accessibility that’s hard to match. However, where the company is especially poised to make an AI splash is in its differentiated approach.

Unlike its competitors, Apple has strengths in two areas that are currently PR headaches for AI: privacy and the environment.

Here’s what that means for its AI reveals at WWDC.

AI features coming to iOS 18 and Apple’s other platforms may be exciting for lots of users, but for some, there exist legitimate concerns around privacy.

Apple gets it, and per a new report, the company plans to make certain iOS 18 AI features not only privacy-conscious, but also opt-in only.