Apple is holding its annual developer event, the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), in less than two weeks. The Cupertino-based tech giant is expected to introduce several new artificial intelligence (AI) features in Siri, Safari browser, Photos app, and more at the event. It was previously reported that some of these features may be server-based, potentially raising privacy concerns among the user base. However, new reports suggest that the company has developed confidential computing techniques to ensure privacy even on the cloud.
Apple announces introduction of Confidential Computing to AI features
According to a report from The Information, the company is working on technology that would allow it to process data on its servers in a way that no one, including Apple employees, can access. In industry jargon, this is called confidential computing, a way of isolating data within a processing unit. Once processed, the data is encrypted and sent back to the source.
The report, citing sources familiar with the matter, claims that the tech giant has been working on such technology for the past three years. The project, internally named Apple Chips in Data Centres (ACDC), was previously reported by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The secure processing by the black boxes is so sophisticated that Apple would be able to claim that the data would not be accessible to governments or courts if they formally requested it, the report, citing the sources, emphasized.
However, risks still exist – for example, if a hacker were to physically break into a server location, they could potentially access your data – but for the most part, the company reports that it can reassure its user base regarding the privacy of their data.
How Apple will use this technology
Apple's primary implementation of the technology will reportedly be to provide AI capabilities to iPhones, MacBooks, and other devices via servers to minimize on-device processing. This will allow the company to provide more sophisticated and advanced AI features without worrying about whether the hardware can handle it. In the long term, however, Apple may also use the technology to develop lightweight wearable devices that perform advanced processing on their servers. If this were to happen, one of the beneficiaries would be the Apple Vision Pro, which has been criticized for its bulky appearance and the need to carry a large external battery.
