Apple CEO Tim Cook has said that ChatGPT will be integrated into the manufacturer’s primary operating system, iOS 18, “by the end of 2024”.

During Apple’s latest earnings call, Cook confirmed that ChatGPT integration will be available as part of Apple’s new Apple Intelligence offering.

He also revealed features such as support for languages beyond US English would be staggered over the course of the year.

At Apple’s last developers conference, it announced plans to integrate ChatGPT with its own chatbot, Siri.

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TikTok agrees to withdraw Lite feature but still faces US lawsuit

Video-sharing app TikTok has agreed to cull its rewards program, TikTok Lite, in Europe following pressure from the European Commission.

The Chinese-owned social media firm said it would withdraw TikToke Lite from the EU and axe the roll-out of similar rewards functionalities to settle an investigation opened by the regulator in April under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA).

It is the first settlement under the DSA, which took effect in August 2023.

TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, was ordered to suspend its app after it launched Lite in France and Spain earlier this year. Commissioners cited mental health concerns.

TikTok Lite allows users over the age of 18 to earn points under a reward program by performing tasks in the app, such as watching and liking content. These prizes can then be exchanged for rewards, such as TikTok’s coins currency or Amazon vouchers.

The announcement came as US regulators filed a new lawsuit against TikTok, accusing the firm of collecting children’s data and failing to delete it at parents’ requests.

The US Department of Justice claims the firm’s actions amount to a “massive scale” invasion of child privacy contrary to laws requiring parental permission to gather data on users under the age of 13.

TikTok has denied the claims.

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X to close San Francisco HQ to move in with Musk’s other projects

Billionaire Elon Musk has announced plans to shut down the San Francisco home of social media platform X.

The move comes less than two years after Musk acquired the firm, formerly known as Twitter. Musk claimed he had “no choice” but to close the office, citing financial regulations.

“It is impossible to operate in San Francisco if you’re processing payments,” he wrote in a post on X. “That’s why Stripe, Block (CashApp) and others had to move.”

Reports claim Musk is expected to move the social media firm to a new location in Austin, Texas, which is also home to some of his other businesses, including SpaceX.

According to the New York Times, California employees would be relocated to Silicon Valley, distributed between an existing office in San Jose and a new office to be built in Palo Alto, and shared with another of Musk’s companies, xAI.

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UK Government unveils £32 million in funding for AI projects to boost public services

The UK government has announced a £32 million investment in AI innovations aimed at improving safety on construction sites, reducing railway repair times, and cutting emissions across supply chains.

The funding supports 98 projects designed to boost productivity and stimulate economic growth through AI.

The 98 projects span from Southampton to Birmingham and Northern Ireland, involving over 200 businesses and research organisations across various sectors.

Minister for Digital Government and AI, Feryal Clark, noted that AI will “deliver real change for working people across the UK”, such as reducing train delays and streamlining NHS prescription deliveries.

This comes days after just days after Labour axed £1.3 billion of AI projects.

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The US has moved a step closer to banning TikTok if the social media network’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, doesn’t sell its stake in the US version within six months.

On Wednesday, the US House of Representatives passed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applicants Act, which could lead to a nationwide TikTok ban in all US app stores and web hosting platforms.

The legislation will now go through the Senate, with the BBC reporting that President Joe Biden will sign the bill into law if it reaches his desk.

Lawmakers say TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, has links with the Chinese Communist Party, which it denies. Meanwhile, the White House says the goal is to end Chinese ownership, not to ban TikTok.

Any forced TikTok divestment from the US would almost certainly face legal challenges, which the company would need to file within 165 days of the president signing the bill.

The TikTok ban is also likely to face challenges on the grounds that it restricts the right to free speech, with civil liberties groups arguing that it infringes on the First Amendment.

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Headset Wars: Zuck takes a pop at Vision Pro

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg took to his instant messaging platform, Threads, earlier this week to reiterate his belief that Apple’s Vision Pro headset is inferior to Meta’s Quest 3.

Zuck’s social media outburst followed a comment on the platform by analyst Benedict Evans, who said that Vision Pro (which retails for $3.5K) was “the device Meta wants to reach in three to five years” and that it was confusing for Meta to suggest that Vision Pro had the same specs as Quest.

In response, Zuckerberg said that the Quest 3 (retailing at $500) was better than the Vision Pro and that if the Meta Quest has the “motion blur,” weight, or “lack of precision inputs” as the Vision Pro in the future, then Meta will have “regressed significantly.”

The Facebook founder also took offence to the Meta Quest being called “a games device” and clarified that some of the top apps on the Quest are social, browser, and video player apps.

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Year of Elections: Google restricts AI Chatbot

Google is restricting its Gemini AI chatbot from answering election-related questions in countries where voting is taking place this year, the Guardian reports. This will prevent users from receiving information about candidates, political parties, and other elements of politics.

The change applies to the US and India and will roll out in nations where elections are held this year.

“Out of an abundance of caution on such an important topic, we have begun to roll out restrictions on the types of election-related queries for which Gemini will return responses,” Google’s India team stated on the company’s site.

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Nissan’s Aussie arm hit by data hack

Nissan Australia has revealed that it has started contacting customers whose data may have been compromised three months ago when a cyber attack hit the manufacturer’s computer systems.

It’s believed that around 10,000 individuals have had highly sensitive data stolen, such as driving licenses, tax numbers and Medicare cards.

The carmaker added that it was now working with government authorities in New Zealand and Australia as well as external cyber forensic experts to review the compromised data and understand the impact.

“We now know the list of affected individuals includes some of Nissan’s customers (including customers of our Mitsubishi, Renault, Skyline, Infiniti, LDV and RAMS branded finance businesses), dealers, and some current and former employees,” the company added.

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The post US TikTok ban looms; Zuck takes a pop at Vision Pro appeared first on TechInformed.