Technology
Siri gets overhaul as Apple goes all in on AI connected to ChatGPT
Apple held its annual developer’s conference on Monday, announcing new software upgrades for all of its devices.
IOS, which is the operating system that runs on your iPhone, has received what can be considered the biggest upgrade to date.
Apple has infused it with artificial intelligence, meaning it is now more capable and feature-rich. IOS 18 is also more customizable than ever, giving you the ability to tweak your home screen and more.
Apple has also announced the macOS 15, iPadOS 18, watchOS 11 and more.
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New software upgrades on all Apple devices (Apple)
iOS 18: What’s new in the latest software
Apple has officially announced iOS 18. While the software will not be released to the public until September, it does bring some features that every iPhone user should be aware of.
The update includes new home screen customization, giving you a theming option for app icons. You can now place app icons anywhere and automatically tint icons with dark mode. You can also swap the new controls onto the lock screen, replacing the flashlight and camera icons.
The list of new iOS 18 features is long, but Apple’s new features for iMessage and texting, in general, are worth noting. The app now lets you respond to messages with any emoji or sticker, not just the old Tapbacks. You can also schedule texts, add effects and format them with underlining, strikethrough and more. Plus, iPhone 14 and 15 users can send messages via satellite even without Wi-Fi or cell service. iOS 18 will also add RCS, reminders integration in Calendar, an option to make your home screen icons bigger, and more.
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‘Apple Intelligence’: All about Apple’s AI efforts
Apple has been struggling to maintain its dominance in the smartphone market, losing market share to companies like Samsung and facing significant challenges in important markets like China. However, the company’s latest AI capabilities, collectively called Apple Intelligence, might help it overcome these issues.
Apple Intelligence is a “personal intelligence” system that puts generative AI at the heart of the Apple device ecosystem. However, it only works with the latest and greatest Apple devices. To use Apple Intelligence on an iPhone, you need an iPhone 15 Pro or later. On iPads and Macs, you need at least the M1 chip.
Apple Intelligence introduces solid improvements to Siri, the virtual assistant on iPhones and iPads. The new Siri has been supercharged with AI, and it understands context, so you don’t have to repeat information. Apple says, “Siri will be able to find and understand things that it never could before.” That’s good news for those who noticed that both Alexa and Google Assistant have surpassed Siri’s capabilities for some time.
Siri will have on-screen awareness about what you are currently looking at and have the ability to take in-app actions. For instance, if you are filling in a form asking for your driving license number, Siri will automatically be able to find a picture of your driving license and extract the relevant number to fill in the field on your behalf. The Cupertino, California, company has also teamed up with OpenAI to let you use ChatGPT within Siri.
Apple Intelligence also brings new features like Writing Tools, which help you rewrite, proofread and summarize text, and Image Playground, which lets you create images in apps such as Messages and Notes with unique styles like Sketch, Illustration, and Animation.
However, these features also encourage you to alter reality and create fake images, made-up rewrites of your own words, and encourage you to read its chosen summaries instead of the whole message sent to you.
For example, Apple showed how to create fake AI images of people in your photos and contacts like a birthday photo with a fake version of your friend surrounded by balloons.
Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, terms Apple Intelligence as “profound new intelligence capabilities.” I call Apple Intelligence with ChatGPT a leap forward with significant privacy and security questions. It may be more private than other services, but it is now encouraging less private activity with your personal data.
Apple Intelligence (Apple)
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macOS 15: The Mac software gets upgraded
Alongside iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, Apple has also made macOS 15 official. The new software is named after a California landmark: Sequoia. This continues Apple’s tradition, as previous versions were also named after places in California.
The new OS makes it even easier to connect your Mac and iPhone. Now, you can not only mirror your iPhone screen on your Mac but also control your iPhone directly from your Mac. You can even drag and drop between macOS apps and the iPhone screen.
Apple has also added a standalone Passwords app in macOS 15 Sequoia, so you can manage your passwords without needing third-party apps. Safari is now smarter, using AI to automatically highlight useful info like map directions or videos on a web page. macOS 15 also gets Apple Intelligence AI features. It can generate text in apps and help you create images.
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Everything else Apple announced at WWDC 2024
Apple’s WWDC 2024 was filled with new announcements. While I detailed the major stuff above, here’s everything else the company announced.
1. iPadOS 18: It shares many home screen and Control Center configurations with iOS 18. The iPad operating system has also received various enhancements to how iPad apps function, including the addition of a new calculator app, which was previously missing. In the Notes app, the Apple Pencil now offers more powerful handwriting capabilities with the Smart Script feature. If you’re not a fan of your handwriting, you can use this feature to improve its appearance.
2. WatchOS 11: This is the latest operating system for Apple Watches. It offers interactive widgets that provide convenient actions and new watch faces and automatically presents the best photos to “surprise and delight” you according to Apple’s marketing spin.
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3. tvOS 18: Apple TVs have been upgraded with tvOS 18, which adds a new Insights section that includes additional information such as actor names and music titles. Apple also added support for 21:9 formatting for viewing widescreen films.
4. VisionOS 2: Apple also unveiled VisionOS 2, the first major upgrade to its software that runs Apple Vision Pro. VisionOS 2 enhances the Photos app with Spatial Photos and Spatial Personas for shared photo viewing. It also adds new hand motion commands for easier navigation, like tapping to reach the home screen and turning wrists to see battery levels.
Kurt’s key takeaway
Apple has made significant changes to its software platforms, which ideally should allow users to get more out of their Apple devices. However, the new AI features being locked to newer devices force consumers to spend more money to buy the latest devices. Apple’s new AI, coming in iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS 15, has some amazingly powerful tools to put the information coming and going in our lives in a more easily usable context. These tools can also be easily misused to spread misinformation and engage in creating fake realities. I appreciate the progress and innovation. At the same time, I am asking some bigger questions about this leap into AI.
What happens when AI is altered to summarize a narrative other than your own? What are we losing by allowing AI to think for us, to tell us what to think about an email, document, poem and love note?
Do you think smartphones and other gadgets really need AI integration? And would you splurge on the newest Apple gear just for those AI features? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact.
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When Oregon resident Isabelle Reksopuro heard Google was gobbling up public land to fuel its data centers in her home state, she didn’t initially know what to believe. “There’s a lot of misinformation about data centers,” she said. “Google has denied taking that land.”
Technically, she explains, The Dalles, a city near the Washington state border, sought to reclaim that land, “and Google is just a big, unnamed power user.” The city had in fact asked for ownership of a 150-acre portion of Mount Hood National Forest, claiming it needs access to Mount Hood’s watershed to meet municipal needs as its population — 16,010 as of the 2020 census — grows. But critics, including environmentalists, say the city is trying to secure more water for Google, which has a sprawling data center campus in The Dalles that already consumes about one-third of the city’s water supply.
This controversy made Reksopuro curious about the backlash to data centers being built in other communities. So Reksopuro, a student at the University of Washington who studies the connections between tech and public policy, decided to map it out. Using information collected by Epoch AI and data scraped from legislation on data centers, she built an interactive map tracking AI policy around the world. She designed it to be simple enough for anyone to use. “I wanted it to be something that my younger sisters could play through and explore to understand what are the data centers in the area and what’s actually being done about it,” Reksopuro said. She hoped to shift their opinions that way, “instead of like, through TikTok.”
Four times a day, the map searches for new sources and checks them against the existing database Reksopuro built out. “Once it does that, it will write a new summary, add it to the news feed, and populate it on the sidebar,” she said. “I wanted it to be self-updating, since I’m also a student.”
Reksopuro isn’t against data centers, but she thinks tech giants benefit from a lack of transparency around data center policies. “Right now, it’s this really opaque thing — and all of a sudden, there’s a facility,” she said. “I think that if people knew about data centers beforehand, it would give them leverage. They would be able to negotiate: ask for job training programs, tax revenue, environmental monitoring, things to improve their community.”
UCF commencement speaker Gloria Caulfield (University of Central Florida via Storyful)
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Welcome to Fox News’ Artificial Intelligence newsletter with the latest AI technology advancements.
IN TODAY’S NEWSLETTER:
– UCF graduates clobber commencement speaker with boos after she says AI is the ‘next Industrial Revolution’
– OPINION: DIRECTOR KASH PATEL: We brought the FBI out of the past and into the AI age
– OpenAI backs creation of global AI governance body led by the U.S. that would include China as a member
TOUGH CROWD: During a recent commencement ceremony at the University of Central Florida, a speaker was met with loud boos from the graduating class after declaring that artificial intelligence represents the next industrial revolution. Fox News Digital reporting captures this tense cultural moment, illustrating the mixed public sentiment and skepticism surrounding AI’s growing footprint in daily life.
A statue on the campus of the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida. (iStock)
BADGE MEETS BYTE: Reflecting on the modernization of national security in a Fox News op-ed, FBI Director Kash Patel explores how the bureau must adapt its strategies to address modern threats and advance beyond the artificial intelligence age.
TECH DIPLOMACY: OpenAI is throwing its support behind the establishment of a new global artificial intelligence governance organization that would be led by the United States while notably including China as a member. Fox News Digital reporting examines the geopolitical dynamics and regulatory implications of this proposed framework as global powers race to set the standards for AI development.
EQUITY ELEVATION: The massive wave of wealth generated by the explosive growth of ChatGPT and the broader AI industry is driving a sudden surge in the San Francisco Bay Area’s luxury real estate market. Fox News Digital reporting breaks down how the influx of new tech capital is reshaping local housing dynamics and fueling a high-end property frenzy.
FBI Director Kash Patel listened as Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche spoke during a press conference at the Department of Justice on April 28, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
STRATEGY RESET: Tech giant Cisco is planning to eliminate thousands of jobs as the company shifts its primary focus to accelerate its artificial intelligence initiatives, a move that comes despite the company beating earnings expectations. Fox News Digital reporting details the corporate restructuring and broader economic trends pushing legacy tech firms to aggressively pivot toward AI.
ROAD HAZARD: Waymo is issuing a sweeping recall of its autonomous vehicle fleet following a concerning incident that highlighted significant safety issues with the self-driving technology. Fox News Digital reporting outlines the specifics of the recall, the nature of the safety flaw, and what this setback means for the future of fully autonomous transportation on public roads.
BOTS IN THE BAY: A newly developed, artificial intelligence-powered robot has been engineered to seamlessly change and balance vehicle tires without human intervention. Fox News Digital reporting showcases this latest innovation, exploring how automation and AI mechanics could soon revolutionize the automotive service and repair industry.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks during the 2026 Infrastructure Summit in Washington, D.C., on March 11, 2026. (Kylie Cooper/Reuters)
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Microsoft Edge is adding a new feature that will allow its Copilot AI chatbot to gather information from all of your open tabs. When you start a conversation with Copilot, you can ask the chatbot questions about what’s in your tabs, compare the products you’re looking at, summarize your open articles, and more.
In its announcement, Microsoft says you can “select which experiences you want or leave off the ones you don’t.” The company is retiring Copilot Mode as well, which could similarly draw information from your tabs but offered some agentic features, like the ability to book a reservation on your behalf. Microsoft has since folded these agentic capabilities into its “Browse with Copilot” tool.
Several other AI features are coming to Edge, including an AI-powered “Study and Learn” mode that can turn the article you’re looking at into a study session or interactive quiz. There’s a new tool that turns your tabs into AI-powered podcasts as well, similar to what you’d find on NotebookLM, and an AI writing assistant that will pop up when you start entering text on a webpage.
You can also give Copilot permission to access your browsing history to provide more “relevant, high-quality answers,” according to Microsoft. Copilot in Edge on desktop and mobile will come with “long-term memory” as well, which can tailor its responses based on your previous conversations. And, when you open up a new tab, you’ll see a redesigned page that combines chat, search, and web navigation, along with the Journeys feature, which uses AI to organize your browsing history into categories that you can revisit.
Meanwhile, an update to Edge’s mobile app will allow you to share your screen with Copilot and talk through the questions about what you’re seeing. Microsoft says you’ll see “clear visual cues” when Copilot is active, “so you know when it’s taking an action, helping, listening, or viewing.”
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