Apple Downplays Concerns Using Google AI Models Will Undermine Privacy
Apple Downplays Concerns Using Google AI Models Will Undermine Privacy
https://www.claimsjournal.com/news/national/2026/06/09/338064.htm
Publish Date: 2026-06-09 01:00:00
Source Domain: www.claimsjournal.com
Apple Inc., which just unveiled a revamped artificial intelligence platform built in part with Google technology, said the new approach will still preserve the company’s privacy safeguards.
Though Apple relies on Google AI models, they’re different than the ones that company uses, software chief Craig Federighi said Monday at the Worldwide Developers Conference.
“We use none of the models that Google deploys to its customers,” he said during a WWDC media event in Cupertino, California. “Your requests are completely private to you. They’re never stored. They’re never accessible to anyone.”
When customers make queries about current events, the information will pass through Apple’s in-house system, Federighi added.
The privacy issue is a balancing act for Apple, which aims to show that it can offer powerful AI features without compromising users’ security. The company also is playing catch-up with its AI strategy, which has been plagued by delays and subpar features.
Amar Subramanya, from left, Mike Rockwell, Sebastien Marineau-Mes, and Craig Federighi at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in Cupertino, California, on June 8. Photographer: Chris Welch/Bloomberg
“Every model is a significant leap both in quality and capability compared to our previous generation,” Amar Subramanya, Apple’s vice president of AI, said at the event. “Our goal is to match every user request to the model that provides the best response at the lowest latency.”
The most powerful of these models, known as AFM Cloud Pro, offers quality that’s “similar” to Google’s Gemini frontier models, Subramanya said. The technology was developed under the company’s Private Cloud Compute philosophy, which now extends to third-party cloud partners including Google. That approach is designed to protect privacy even when data is in the cloud.
“Apple devices are only allowed to talk to software that’s been signed by Apple,” said Sebastien…
