Apple has suspended its artificial intelligence (AI) feature aimed at summarizing news headlines due to criticism regarding inaccuracies. The company announced the decision following widespread backlash from journalists and media organizations, which labeled the feature as not ready for deployment.
Apple suspends faulty AI news summarization feature
The decision to halt the service came after it misrepresented news articles, including a case reported by the BBC where an alert incorrectly stated that Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, had shot himself. Inaccuracies were also noted in summaries related to reports from the New York Times and the Washington Post.
Media outlets, including the BBC, had urged Apple to address these issues, warning that AI-generated errors contribute to misinformation and erode trust in news reporting. The BBC first reached out to Apple in December, but it wasn’t until January that the company responded with plans for a software update aimed at clarifying the AI’s role in creating summaries, which were optional and available only to users with the latest iPhones.
Following the criticisms, Apple has decided to disable the feature entirely for news and entertainment applications. An Apple spokesperson confirmed that, with the latest beta software updates for iOS 18.3, iPadOS 18.3, and macOS Sequoia 15.3, notification summaries in the News & Entertainment category would temporarily be unavailable.
In a move to keep users informed, Apple will also add a warning for those who opted into notification summaries for other applications, indicating that the feature is still in development and may contain errors. The BBC expressed satisfaction that Apple has paused the summarization feature for news, emphasizing the importance of delivering accurate news to maintain audience trust.
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Apple initially introduced the summarization feature in December to enhance user efficiency by compiling multiple notifications into a single alert on lock screens. Investors had anticipated successful implementation of AI advancements would spur demand for Apple products.
On the same day of the announcement, Apple’s shares fell more than 4% amid reports of struggling sales in China. This development comes less than six months after Apple launched several AI features, specifically its notification summarization service.
The faulty summaries raise concerns within the recent trajectory of AI products, as various tech companies face scrutiny for similar issues. In a broader context, many analysts question the immediate potential of AI technology, as some doubt whether it can deliver sufficient value to justify its costs and complexities.
Apple has emphasized its commitment to improving the summarization of notifications for news and entertainment apps, with intentions to restore the feature in a future software update. The company’s current AI capabilities are limited to the iPhone 15 and 16 models and are primarily available in English-speaking countries, with plans to expand language support in the near future.
Featured image credit: Roman Kraft/Unsplash
