iOS Gets AI Upgrade: Inside Apple’s New ‘Intelligence’ System

Apple is set to unveil its latest advances in artificial intelligence, revealing details about new language models that will power AI features on its devices while also prioritizing user privacy and responsible development.

In a research paper published today, Apple described two new core language models: a 3-billion-parameter model optimized to run efficiently on iPhones and other devices, and a larger server-based model. These models are the core of “Apple Intelligence,” a new AI system unveiled at the company’s developer conference earlier this year.

“Apple Intelligence consists of many extremely efficient generative models that are fast, efficient, specialized in the everyday tasks of our users, and can rapidly adapt to their current activities,” the researchers explain in the paper.

iPhone AI Revolution: 3 Billion Parameters in Your Pocket

A key goal for Apple was to develop models that could run directly on devices like iPhones, rather than relying solely on cloud computing. That’s consistent with the company’s emphasis on privacy.

“We protect our users’ privacy with efficient on-device processing and groundbreaking infrastructure like Private Cloud Compute,” the Apple researchers wrote. “We do not use private personal information from our users or user interactions when training our underlying models.”

The on-device model, called AFM-on-device, contains about 3 billion parameters — far fewer than leading models from companies like OpenAI and Meta, which can have hundreds of billions of parameters. But Apple says it has optimized the model for performance and responsiveness on mobile devices.

For more intensive tasks, Apple has developed a larger server-based model called the AFM-server. Although the exact size has not been disclosed, it is designed to run on Apple’s cloud infrastructure using a system called Private Cloud Compute to protect user data.

Responsible AI: Apple’s Ethical Approach to AI

Apple has emphasized that it focuses on “responsible AI” principles throughout its development process. This includes efforts to reduce bias, protect privacy, and avoid potential misuse or harm from AI systems.

“We take precautions at every step of our process, including design, model training, feature development, and quality assessment, to identify ways our AI tools can be misused or cause potential harm,” the researchers said.

The models were trained on a diverse set of data, including websites, licensed content from publishers, code repositories, and specialized mathematical and scientific data. Interestingly, Apple claims that it did not use any private user data in training the models.

Industry analysts say Apple’s approach of balancing on-device and cloud computing while emphasizing privacy could help the company’s AI offerings stand out in an increasingly crowded market.

This strategy is consistent with Apple’s long-standing policy on user privacy and device-level data processing, but it also presents unique challenges and opportunities.

By prioritizing on-device AI, Apple can offer faster response times and offline functionality, potentially giving it an advantage in real-world usability. However, the limitations of mobile hardware mean these models may struggle to match the raw capabilities of larger cloud-based systems.

Apple’s emphasis on responsible AI development and privacy protections could also resonate with both consumers and regulators, especially as concerns about AI ethics and data privacy continue to grow. Such an approach could help Apple build trust with users and potentially bypass some of the regulatory scrutiny that other tech giants face.

The new AI models are expected to power a range of features in upcoming versions of iOS, iPadOS, and macOS starting in October (recently delayed). Apple says the technology will improve everything from text generation to image creation to in-app interactions.

As the artificial intelligence (AI) market continues to evolve, Apple’s unique approach represents a serious bet on the future of generative AI technology.

The success of this strategy will depend not only on the technical capabilities of Apple’s AI models, but also on how well the company integrates these technologies into its ecosystem in a way that delivers tangible benefits to users while maintaining its commitment to privacy and responsible development.