Category: 4. Technology

Apple Inc. is considering using artificial intelligence technology from Anthropic PBC or OpenAI to power a new version of Siri, sidelining its own in-house models in a potentially blockbuster move aimed at turning around its flailing AI effort.

The iPhone maker has talked with both companies about using their large language models for Siri, according to people familiar with the discussions. It has asked them to train versions of their models that could run on Apple’s cloud infrastructure for testing, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations.

If Apple ultimately moves forward, it would represent a monumental reversal. The company currently powers most of its AI features with homegrown technology that it calls Apple Foundation Models and had been planning a new version of its voice assistant that runs on that technology for 2026.

A switch to Anthropic’s Claude or OpenAI’s ChatGPT models for Siri would be an acknowledgment that the company is struggling to compete in generative AI — the most important new technology in decades. Apple already allows ChatGPT to answer web-based search queries in Siri, but the assistant itself is powered by Apple.

Apple’s investigation into third-party models is at an early stage, and the company hasn’t made a final decision on using them, the people said. A competing project internally dubbed LLM Siri that uses in-house models remains in active development.

Making a change — which is under discussion for next year — could allow Cupertino, California-based Apple to offer Siri features on par with AI assistants on Android phones, helping the company shed its reputation as an AI laggard.

Representatives for Apple, Anthropic and OpenAI declined to comment. Shares of Apple closed up over 2% after Bloomberg reported on the deliberations.

The project to evaluate external models was started by Siri chief Mike Rockwell and software engineering head Craig Federighi. They were given oversight of Siri after the duties were removed from the command of John Giannandrea, the company’s AI chief. He was sidelined in the wake of a tepid response to Apple Intelligence and Siri feature delays.

Rockwell, who previously launched the Vision Pro headset, assumed the Siri engineering role in March. After taking over, he instructed his new group to assess whether Siri would do a better job handling queries using Apple’s AI models or third-party technology, including Claude, ChatGPT and Alphabet Inc.’s Google Gemini.

After multiple rounds of testing, Rockwell and other executives concluded that Anthropic’s technology is most promising for Siri’s needs, the people said. That led Adrian Perica, the company’s vice president of corporate development, to start discussions with Anthropic about using Claude, the people said.

The Siri assistant — originally released in 2011 — has fallen behind popular AI chatbots, and Apple’s attempts to upgrade the software have been stymied by engineering snags and delays.

A year ago, Apple unveiled new Siri capabilities, including ones that would let it tap into users’ personal data and analyze on-screen content to better fulfill queries. The company also demonstrated technology that would let Siri more precisely control apps and features across Apple devices.

The enhancements were far from ready. Apple initially announced plans for an early 2025 release but ultimately delayed the launch indefinitely. They are now planned for next spring, Bloomberg News has reported.

People with knowledge of Apple’s AI team say it is operating with a high degree of uncertainty and a lack of clarity, with executives still poring over a number of possible directions. Apple has already approved a multibillion dollar budget for 2026 for running its own models via the cloud but its plans for beyond that remain murky.

Still, Federighi, Rockwell and other executives have grown increasingly open to the idea that embracing outside technology is the key to a near-term turnaround. They don’t see the need for Apple to rely on its own models — which they currently consider inferior — when it can partner with third parties instead, according to the people.

Licensing third-party AI would mirror an approach taken by Samsung Electronics Co. While the company brands its features under the Galaxy AI umbrella, many of its features are actually based on Gemini. Anthropic, for its part, is already used by Amazon.com Inc. to help power the new Alexa+.

In the future, if its own technology improves, the executives believe Apple should have ownership of AI models given their increasing importance to how products operate. The company is working on a series of projects, including a tabletop robot and glasses that will make heavy use of AI.

Apple has also recently considered acquiring Perplexity in order to help bolster its AI work, Bloomberg has reported. It also briefly held discussions with Thinking Machines Lab, the AI startup founded by former OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati.

Apple’s models are developed by a roughly 100-person team run by Ruoming Pang, an Apple distinguished engineer who joined from Google in 2021 to lead this work. He reports to Daphne Luong, a senior director in charge of AI research.

Luong is one of Giannandrea’s top lieutenants, and the foundation models team is one of the few significant AI groups still reporting to Giannandrea. Even in that area, Federighi and Rockwell have taken a larger role.

Regardless of the path it takes, the proposed shift has weighed on the team, which has some of the AI industry’s most in-demand talent.

Some members have signaled internally that they are unhappy that the company is considering technology from a third-party, creating the perception that they are to blame, at least partially, for the company’s AI shortcomings. They’ve said that they could leave for multimillion-dollar packages being floated by Meta Platforms Inc. and OpenAI.

Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, has been offering some engineers annual pay packages between $10 million and $40 million — or even more — to join its new Superintelligence Labs group, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Apple is known, in many cases, to pay its AI engineers half — or even less — than what they can get on the open market.

One of Apple’s most senior large language model researchers, Tom Gunter, left last week. He had worked at Apple for about eight years, and some colleagues see him as difficult to replace given his unique skillset and the willingness of Apple’s competitors to pay exponentially more for talent.

Apple this month also nearly lost the team behind MLX, its key open-source system for developing machine learning models on the latest Apple chips. After the engineers threatened to leave, Apple made counteroffers to retain them — and they’re staying for now.

In its discussions with both Anthropic and OpenAI, the iPhone maker requested a custom version of Claude and ChatGPT that could run on Apple’s Private Cloud Compute servers — infrastructure based on high-end Mac chips that the company currently uses to operate its more sophisticated in-house models.

Apple believes that running the models on its own chips housed in Apple-controlled cloud servers — rather than relying on third-party infrastructure — will better safeguard user privacy. The company has already internally tested the feasibility of the idea.

Other Apple Intelligence features are powered by AI models that reside on consumers’ devices. These models — slower and less powerful than cloud-based versions — are used for tasks like summarizing short emails and creating Genmojis.

Apple is opening up the on-device models to third-party developers later this year, letting app makers create AI features based on its technology.

The company hasn’t announced plans to give apps access to the cloud models. One reason for that is the cloud servers don’t yet have the capacity to handle a flood of new third-party features.

The company isn’t currently working on moving away from its in-house models for on-device or developer use cases. Still, there are fears among engineers on the foundation models team that moving to a third-party for Siri could portend a move for other features as well in the future.

Last year, OpenAI offered to train on-device models for Apple, but the iPhone maker was not interested.

Since December 2024, Apple has been using OpenAI to handle some features. In addition to responding to world knowledge queries in Siri, ChatGPT can write blocks of text in the Writing Tools feature. Later this year, in iOS 26, there will be a ChatGPT option for image generation and on-screen image analysis.

While discussing a potential arrangement, Apple and Anthropic have disagreed over preliminary financial terms, according to the people. The AI startup is seeking a multibillion-dollar annual fee that increases sharply each year. The struggle to reach a deal has left Apple contemplating working with OpenAI or others if it moves forward with the third-party plan, they said.

If Apple does strike an agreement, the influence of Giannandrea, who joined Apple from Google in 2018 and is a proponent of in-house large language model development, would continue to shrink.

In addition to losing Siri, Giannandrea was stripped of responsibility over Apple’s robotics unit. And, in previously unreported moves, the company’s Core ML and App Intents teams — groups responsible for frameworks that let developers integrate AI into their apps — were shifted to Federighi’s software engineering organization.

Apple’s foundation models team had also been building large language models to help employees and external developers write code in Xcode, its programming software. The company killed the project — announced last year as Swift Assist — about a month ago.

Instead, Apple later this year is rolling out a new Xcode that can tap into third-party programming models. App developers can choose from ChatGPT or Claude.

Gurman writes for Bloomberg.

Miley Cyrus doesn’t have to buy herself flowers when she’s got Gucci‘s new Gorgeous Gardenia Eau de Parfum Intense, the latest scent in the Italian brand’s Flora collection. The 32-year-old “Used to be Young” singer was tapped to be the face of the campaign after serving as the ambassador of the Gucci Flora Gorgeous Gardenia fragrance since its initial release in 2021.

Set against the Los Angeles skyline at sunset, the campaign imagery, shot by Tyler Mitchell, features Cyrus sprawled in a field of pink and white flowers, with a fuchsia fragrance bottle in hand. The serene scene is meant to mimic the dichotomy of the scent: a powerful blend of florals mixed with vibrant woody notes.

The entire Flora collection is designed as an ode to female empowerment, femininity and freedom. This particular aroma, a reinterpretation of the original Gorgeous Gardenia, celebrates the delicate and fearless duality of womanhood, encouraging its wearer to pursue their deepest desires.

“With Gucci Flora Gorgeous Gardenia Eau de Parfum Intense, I wanted to enhance the sensuality of the gardenia by capturing the flower’s full depth, from its creamy richness to its woody facets,” Blanc explained. “The scent opens with a rush of citrus, unfolding into its full floral elegance, before embracing the bold warmth of its intensely enveloping depths.”

Like the existing Flora fragrances, the Eau de Parfum Intense is wrapped in the brand’s heritage floral print painted by Vittorio Accornero de Testa for Gucci in 1966. The “Intense” is written in a shimmery gold font. Size options include a 10-ml spray pen, as well as 30-, 50- and 100-ml bottles.

Cyrus has been working as an ambassador for Gucci Flora scents for four years now. She first joined as part of the brand’s 100th anniversary. Since then, she’s starred in campaigns for the Gucci Flora Gorgeous Orchid Eau de Parfum and the Gorgeous Jasmine scent.

The brand describes Cyrus as the perfect model for the nascent fragrance; someone who’s both free-spirited and versatile. When she first joined forces with Gucci, then creative director Alessandro Michele said: “Miley Cyrus is an artist with a spirit that is both rock ‘n’ roll and eclectic at the same time.”

 

UK campaign group The Good Law Project has accused Apple and Google of allowing ‘fake age ratings’ on the app stores – and says King, Supercell and many more have been deliberately providing them.

The group has launched a new campaign accusing platform holders Apple and Google of deceiving players by allowing game-makers to display one age rating at the point of download, but hiding the ‘real’ age rating in their games’ service agreements.

Game-makers specifically accused of the practice by the Good Law Project include King, Supercell, Century Games, Kooapps, Toca Boca and SayGames. But there are “thousands and thousands” more, says the group, which is also working with child safety NGO 5Rights to shed light on the issue.

In particular, the campaign focuses on King’s Candy Crush Saga. The Good Law Project claims that King deceives players by showing a 4+ rating on the app stores, but a peek into the game’s service agreement actually requires players to be 13 or over to view the ads served in the game.

The Good Law Project also namechecks Whiteout Survival, Clash of Clans, Pop Us!, Snake.io and Toca Boca World as supposedly having deceptive age ratings.

“Candy Crush isn’t the only app playing this game,” says The Good Law Project. “Thousands and thousands of apps are declaring one age range across the top and hiding another in the terms and conditions.”

“And it’s all to make money out of tricking kids,” the group continues. “Firms can’t build up profiles and dish out surveillance ads to children under 13 without explicit consent from their parents – it’s illegal. But the firms think they’ve covered their backs if the small print that nobody ever reads says users have to be “at least 13″, whatever it says at the top of the page.”

“So young kids are playing apps that bombard them with ads aimed at much older kids. And app developers and app stores are complicit.”

As a result of its findings, The Good Law Project filed an official complaint to the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority yesterday. The complaint claims that the behaviour is unlawful and in breach of UK consumer protection and data processing regulations.

It also claims that Apple and Google have a “special responsibility to protect consumers’ interests” due to their “effective monopoly” on app stores. Apple and Google’s lack of oversight “constitute abuses of their respective dominant positions,” it says.

Apple sent us the following statement in response to the Good Law Project’s claims: “We are committed to protecting user privacy and security and providing a safe experience for children. We do this by giving parents and developers important tools to help protect children on the App Store and across the apps they use.”

“When parents or guardians create an Apple Account for a child under 13 years of age, tracking permissions are disabled by default – so apps can’t request to track them through App Tracking Transparency. These protections are based on the user’s age, not the app. We also require developers to provide clear age ratings consistent with App Store policies, and in instances where an app’s age rating does not match its content, we take immediate action to ensure the issue is corrected.”

We also asked King, Google and Supercell for comment on this story, and will update this article with their remarks if or when they provide them.

At the time of writing, over 6,800 people have added their name to The Good Law Project’s petition to force Google and Apple to make their app stores safer for children.

RedMagic’s Tablet 3 Pro launched in China last month, and it’s now ready to take on global markets. Now called the RedMagic Astra Gaming Tablet, this is every bit the compact tablet beast that its Chinese counterpart is.

The tablet is built around a 9.06-inch display with uniform 4.9mm bezels. The panel is outstanding – 1504x2400px 16:10 aspect LTPO OLED unit with a max refresh rate of 165Hz, HDR, PWM dimming, and a peak brightness of 1,600 nits.

The Astra Gaming Tablet has stereo speakers and dual haptic drivers for true media and gaming immersion!

RedMagic Astra Gaming Tablet

The Astra Gaming Tablet has the premier Android SoC in the Snapdragon 8 Elite with advanced cooling leading heat away from the chip that uses actual liquid metal, a large vapor chamber and an active cooling fan. RedMagic says all of those advancements combine for an 8°C temperature reduction.

Snapdragon 8 Elite and both active and passive cooling

Inside is an 8,200mAh battery with support for 80W charging and a claimed 0%-50% in just 20 minutes. The USB-C port is a USB 3.2 Gen 2 and can drive external displays up to 8K at 60Hz. Dropping the resolution to 4K enables refresh rates up to 144Hz.

The RedMagic Astra Gaming Tablet comes in two colors – Black (12/256GB, 16/512GB, 24GB/1TB), and Silver (12/256GB, 16/512GB) – and will begin selling on July 16 at a MSRP of $499/€499/£439.

However, there’s an Early Bird Voucher between July 10 and July 15, which slashes the base price to $469/€469/£409. Early Bird buyers will get a complimentary pair of RedMagic gaming finger sleeves and the 80W charger (which doesn’t come as standard in the box).

The Astra Gaming Tablet is coming to North America, Europe, the UK, Asia Pacific, and the Gulf Cooperation countries.

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era is coming to PC via Steam Early Access later this year and will be published by Hooded Horse and Ubisoft. Developed by Unfrozen (Iratus: Lord of the Dead), this new installment in the renowned turn-based tactics series features new factions, biomes, and creatures on a mysterious new continent, Jadame, which has been referenced but never explored in the Heroes of Might and Magic series.

Ubisoft is partnering with Unfrozen and Hooded Horse on Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era.

“We are thrilled to welcome Hooded Horse aboard to support the next chapter of Heroes of Might and Magic,” says Alain Corre, Chief Publishing Officer at Ubisoft. “Their passion for the franchise and strong connection with strategy communities make them the perfect complement to Unfrozen’s creative talent. Together, we’ll reignite Heroes of Might and Magic and bring players to exciting, unexplored realms.”  

“Heroes of Might and Magic is a legendary series, one that has a place in the hearts and childhoods of many gamers,” says Hooded Horse CEO Tim Bender. “We’re honored to be teaming up with Ubisoft and Unfrozen on this project.”

“The entire Unfrozen team is very excited that Hooded Horse is joining the project. We firmly believe that their expertise, combined with Ubisoft’s legacy, will allow us to make Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era truly successful and introduce the game to even more fans of tactical turn-based strategies from all over the world,” says Denis Fedorov, CEO of Unfrozen.

Olden Era features six factions, a single-player campaign, and several multiplayer modes, including the local multiplayer Hotseat mode. In addition, you can venture into the unknown on randomly generated maps, and access the map editor to create your own worlds or experience those created by other players.

Wishlist Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era on Steam to be notified when it launches in Early Access later this year.

Siemens has announced major updates to its NX and NX X software. The latest version introduces an AI copilot for natural language interaction, immersive engineering capabilities in collaboration with Sony, and integrated thermal and fluid simulation.

The new Design Copilot NX uses natural language processing to give users access to Siemens’ database. Both beginners and experienced users can search for technical answers, best practices, and documentation using natural language. The system is designed to accelerate the learning process by providing quick access to relevant information.

Immersive engineering with Sony headsets

One of the most notable additions is the collaboration with Sony for mixed reality functionalities. In addition to the existing NX Immersive Designer, which allows users to view and edit 3D CAD designs in VR and AR, Siemens is now introducing NX Immersive Collaborator.

This new tool allows colleagues, partners, and stakeholders to collaborate in the same virtual reality environment. Collaborative sessions can be started directly from the NX interface without extensive preparatory work. The system provides tools for measuring, evaluating, and annotating parts or complete assemblies.

With NX CFD Designer, Siemens is introducing a new CAD-integrated simulation tool. The software, based on Simcenter FLOEFD technology, enables designers to perform fluid flow and thermal analyses without leaving the CAD environment.

The system is specifically designed for users without CFD experience. It automates complex tasks such as fluid volume detection and meshing, allowing designers to quickly evaluate different scenarios and compare geometry variations.

In addition, Siemens has expanded the capabilities of Performance Predictor. Designers and engineers can now perform mechanical stress analyses on complete assemblies.

Model-based design extended to quality control

The new NX Inspector represents a significant advancement in Model-Based Design (MBD). The system adds model-based characteristics to digital twins, enabling MBD to be used for downstream quality and production processes.

Designers can define manufacturing PMI based on the Model-Based Characteristics standard of the Digital Metrology Standards Consortium. This information is reused to create inspection and metrology processes through integration with Teamcenter and Teamcenter Quality.

The Design for Manufacture (DFM) Advisor also automates early manufacturability assessments. The system analyzes geometry and identifies potential challenges in various manufacturing processes such as drilling, milling, assembly, and casting. The NX Mold Wizard has also been improved with real-time updates and enhanced cooling channel simulation tools.

Tip: Siemens nears largest acquisition ever with $10 billion loan

The Google graveyard has claimed another victim: the company has killed the Apple Watch version of its Keep app. While the note-taking app is still available for iPhone and iPad, the 2.2025.26200 Google Keep App Store update released on Monday has removed watchOS support, bringing the total number of Google apps for Apple Watch back down to three.

This sours some hope that Google would expand its watchOS app offerings after quietly rolling out a new native Google Calendar app for Apple Watch yesterday, having initially pulled several Google apps from the platform in 2017. The Google Keep app was introduced to watchOS in 2019 but has largely been neglected since, lacking any meaningful updates. Now, Google Calendar, Maps, and YouTube Music are all that remain, with the latter two also in need of modernization.

While outdated, Keep was still functional on Apple Watch, providing a convenient way for users to quickly create lists or jot down information on the go. There doesn’t appear to be a notable third-party alternative on watchOS to replace it. Its removal confirms several reports made by Keep users on Reddit last month, who said Google had notified them that “the watch app would be deprecated soon.” We have reached out to Google to clarify why the app was removed.

Keep is still available for smartwatches running on Google’s own Wear OS platform. That’s unlikely to be of any comfort to Apple Watch users who are disrupted by the removal, however; they will need to wait until Apple brings a native version of the Notes app to watchOS 26 this fall.

Story Continues

Twelve-year-old Lauren Eglite was thrilled to attend a Notre Dame football game with her father, Erik, in 2017, even though her acute peanut allergy demands constant vigilance.

She was even more excited when the stadium’s brand-new video board aired an NBC Fighting For story about Basar Bilgicer’s research into blocking peanut allergens from triggering immune system overreactions. She asked her father, a drug company executive and Notre Dame business school alumnus, if this might be an opportunity to get involved with a solution to a condition that had complicated her life since childhood.

“I remember to this day her looking at that screen and turning to me,” Dr. Erik Eglite said. “She said, ‘Daddy, can I meet him? I really want to do something about it.’ This kid actually did that.”