Here’s what’s on our plate today:

• 🍏 Apple doubles down on privacy-first AI—why it’s betting on your data never leaving your device.

• 🧠 Will AI’s “Eureka moment” arrive next year? (Sam Altman thinks so).

• ⚖️ Amazon takes its EU platform battle to court—Big Tech vs. the rulebook.

• 🌌 AI helps scientists decode black holes and expand the universe of discovery.

Let’s dive in. No floaties needed…

The Laboratory

Privacy, not AI, is Apple’s long-term strategy

The World Wide Developers Conference, or WWDC, is one of the most anticipated events in the tech industry. Apple’s flagship event gives a glimpse of the software and platform strategy the company looks to work on throughout the year. The event is especially important for developers as they look to align their strategies based on the announcements made at the event. Whether it has been the introduction of Swift, the launch of Apple Silicon, or the debut of Apple Intelligence in 2024, WWDC announcements have ripple effects across the global technology landscape.

This year, the stakes for Apple were higher than usual as major announcements from last year’s event, especially around Apple Intelligence, were stalled. The company was also under pressure due to increasing pressure on its App Store policies, threat from tariffs, and increased competition in the AI space.

Apple responded by doubling down on its privacy-first AI approach

While users focused on updates to the renaming of its operating system to bring them in sync with the years of their release, and changes to UI, Apple reinforced its longstanding commitment to privacy. In a day and age where AI companies have been going after publicly available information and user data to feed their AI models, Apple, it seems, has chosen to go a different direction.

On-device takes center stage

The company, while announcing new Apple Intelligence features at WWDC25, opted for on-device AI features rather than in the cloud. While this may not be as flashy compared to features offered by competitors, and may even lag behind in functionality, it underscores Apple’s core values.

Some of the artificial intelligence features announced by Apple include opening up its on-device foundation model within Apple Intelligence to developers.  The company is also doubling down on using on-device computation to bring more AI features for its users.

For requests that require access to larger models, the company says it will rely on private cloud compute where “users’ data is never stored or shared with Apple; it is used only to fulfill their request”.

While Apple is not particularly known to be the first to launch features, many of which make their way to competing devices way earlier, the current announcement could increase the differentiation between Apple and its competitors. Something the current CEO, Tim Cook, has been working on for a long time.

A decade of privacy-first thinking

When the first iPhone was launched in 2007, Apple’s focus was on being the disruptor, the innovator, and the design-focused company that did not shy away from asking its customers to pay a premium. Over the years, the company has evolved, and while it continues to put design at the forefront, critics argue innovation has taken a back seat to make way for privacy as the driving force.

In 2014, way before AI became the most popular word for marketers, Apple had shifted its focus to privacy. At the time, CEO Tim Cook appeared to make a rather critical commentary on some of the tech giants in an open letter to customers.

In the letter, Apple said its business was to sell great products and not to build a profile based on customers’ email content or web browsing habits to sell to advertisers. And the company stuck to its thought. Over the years, Apple introduced features like full‑disk encryption by default, cross-site tracking protections in Safari, App Tracking Transparency, and Private Cloud Compute, to name a few. However, with AI coming into the picture, the seas have turned turbulent.

When data became the differentiator

While Apple championed privacy, competitors like Google, OpenAI, and Meta took the approach of collecting and analyzing massive volumes of user data. This not only allowed them to fast-track the development of their AI models but also made them invest heavily in cloud storage required to run these models.

These companies vigorously deploy web crawlers, aggregate user-generated content, and harness cloud-scale data storage to feed increasingly complex machine learning systems. This unrestrained data access allows these firms to build broader, more powerful AI models capable of handling a wide range of tasks. By contrast, Apple’s traditional limitation to on-device data or user-consented information has meant its AI models have access to less varied and extensive datasets.

Apple’s smaller, safer model tradeoff

The outcome is that Apple’s AI capabilities often lag behind cloud-first models when it comes to general knowledge, adaptability, or scale.

But the tradeoffs might work in Apple’s favor in the long run. Markets such as enterprise AI, healthcare, and finance, where privacy is heavily regulated, may find Apple’s stance appealing.

But in consumer AI, the company may be conceding first-mover gains and market excitement to rivals who embraced data ambition.

What do WWDC25 announcements mean for Apple’s AI strategy?

To understand what the announcements made in WWDC25 could mean, we will have to look back a little.

In June 2024, Apple unveiled its most ambitious infrastructure for privacy-preserving AI to date: Private Cloud Compute (PCC). At a time when much of the industry relies on large-scale, centralized servers processing user data in the cloud, Apple introduced a hybrid architecture designed to retain privacy without sacrificing capability. The system worked by offloading necessary portions of AI computation to custom-built servers, unlike traditional cloud systems, where user data is stored and accessed freely for model training and product improvement.

With announcements made at WWDC25, Apple made it clear that it isn’t competing with OpenAI or Google on their terms. Instead, it’s pursuing a distinctly different strategy.

Rather than launching massive multimodal models or headline-grabbing chatbot breakthroughs, Apple’s WWDC25 announcements outlined a deliberate, user-centric vision for AI that folds seamlessly into its ecosystem, with privacy and utility at its core.

Siri 2.0 is quietly redefining the assistant

The centerpiece of the event was the expansion of Apple Intelligence, a framework that now powers a broad range of personal assistant features across iPhone, iPad, and Mac. It works on a foundation of on-device and hybrid AI processing via Apple’s Private Cloud Compute infrastructure. The most telling sign of Apple’s AI philosophy, however, came through its positioning of Siri 2.0. Apple didn’t rebrand Siri as an “agent” or “copilot” like its competitors. Instead, it presented the upgraded Siri as a deeply integrated assistant that understands context, executes device actions, and maintains a natural, conversational flow, all without sacrificing user privacy.

Meanwhile, Apple has also ensured it has a partner in the cloud space to handle complex queries. Its partnership with OpenAI allows the company to promise its users AI features that are capable enough to handle the required tasks, while also ensuring it can continue down privacy lanes, which may be more beneficial in the long run.

Quick Bits, No Fluff

• Sam Altman thinks AI will have ‘novel insights’ next year
  OpenAI’s CEO predicts that by 2026, AI will move beyond pattern-matching to generate genuinely new scientific and creative ideas.

• Amazon to call on EU judges for online platform rules exemption
  Amazon is set to challenge its designation under the EU’s Digital Markets Act, seeking relief from new rules that target “gatekeeper” platforms.

• Artificial Intelligence is unlocking the secrets of black holes
  AI algorithms are analyzing cosmic data to reveal never-before-seen details about black holes’ formation and behavior.

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