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Apple is rolling out a new system that processes user data directly on devices in an effort to enhance its AI capabilities while maintaining privacy standards. Starting with beta versions of iOS and iPadOS 18.5 and macOS 15.5, the company will begin comparing synthetic data with real-world examples—such as emails from the Mail app—without storing this content or using it for model training. The approach is designed to address existing weaknesses in Apple’s AI systems without compromising user privacy. It builds on the company's emphasis on local processing and aligns with its broader privacy strategy. Improvements enabled by the system include more accurate notification summaries, better text input features, and expanded image-generation capabilities such as Genmoji. The system is only active for users who have opted into device analytics. The move comes as Apple works to close the gap with competitors like OpenAI and Google, both of which have made more visible progress in generative AI.

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The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) is investigating whether X used personal data from EU users without valid consent to train its AI system Grok. The investigation focuses on public posts from users in the EU and European Economic Area. X had previously committed to permanently stop this practice following a court case last year, which led the DPC to end its earlier investigation. The renewed scrutiny may have been triggered by Elon Musk's xAI acquiring X. As Ireland's lead EU regulator, the DPC can impose fines of up to four percent of a company's global revenue for violations of the General Data Protection Regulation. X was last fined €450,000 by the DPC in 2020. Elon Musk, X's owner, and former US President Donald Trump have repeatedly criticized EU regulations targeting US tech companies.

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Alibaba’s Quark AI Assistant became the most used AI app in China in March, according to data from Aicpb.com. The app reached approximately 150 million monthly active users worldwide, overtaking ByteDance’s Doubao, which had 100 million, and DeepSeek with 77 million. These figures are based on App Store data and do not include website usage. Quark’s rise follows its recent transformation from a cloud storage and search service into an AI assistant. The update, introduced last month, is powered by Alibaba’s Qwen models. The app now supports a range of AI functions, including text and image generation, research assistance, and programming tasks. Other major Chinese tech firms are also expanding their AI offerings. ByteDance is currently testing new video features for Doubao, while Tencent has integrated its Yuanbao assistant into WeChat. A global ranking by Andreessen Horowitz recently placed Quark sixth among the world’s most popular AI apps, behind Baidu’s AI Search and OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which remains in the top position.

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