Apple makes all production PCC server builds available for inspection, so even those not affiliated with Apple can see if PCC is working (or not) as the company claims and that everything is fine. I am trying to confirm that it is implemented. Every PCC server image is logged in an encrypted authentication log that is essentially an indelible record of signed claims, with each entry containing the URL of where to download that individual build. PCC is designed to prevent Apple from putting servers into production without logging. In addition to providing transparency, this system also serves as an important enforcement mechanism to prevent malicious parties from setting up rogue PCC nodes and diverting traffic. If the server build is not recorded, iPhone will not send Apple Intelligence queries or data to iPhone.
PCC is part of Apple’s bug bounty program, and any vulnerabilities or misconfigurations discovered by researchers may be eligible for cash bounties. However, Apple says it has not yet discovered any PCC flaws since the iOS 18.1 beta became available in late July. However, the company admits that so far it has only made its tools to assess PCC available to a limited number of researchers.
Multiple security researchers and cryptographers told WIRED that while private cloud computing looks promising, it hasn’t been explored enough yet.
“In the past, when we didn’t have data centers, it was difficult to build Apple Silicon servers in data centers and build custom OSs to run in data centers,” Federighi says. He further added, “Creating a trust model in which the device refuses to issue requests to the server unless the signatures of all the software the server is running are exposed in the transparency log is definitely a solution. It was one of the most unique elements and is extremely important to the trust model.”
In response to questions about Apple’s partnership with OpenAI and the integration of ChatGPT, the company emphasized that the partnership is not subject to the PCC and will be operated separately. ChatGPT and other integrations are disabled by default and users must enable them manually. Then, each time Apple Intelligence determines that your request would be better served by ChatGPT or another partner platform, we will notify you and ask you if you wish to proceed. Additionally, you can use these integrations while logged in to your account with a partner service, such as ChatGPT, or through Apple without logging in separately. Apple announced in June that it was also considering new integration with Google’s Gemini.
Apple announced this week that Apple Intelligence is now available in U.S. English, as well as in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom in December. The company also said that support for additional languages, including Chinese, French, Japanese, and Spanish, will be phased out next year. Whether that means Apple Intelligence is allowed under European Union AI law and whether Apple can offer PCC in its current form in China is another matter.
“Our goal is to ideally offer everything to provide the best functionality to our customers everywhere we can,” Federighi says. “But we have to comply with regulations, and there are uncertainties in certain environments that we are working to resolve so that we can bring these capabilities to our customers as quickly as possible. We are trying.”
He added that this could be used as a workaround in some markets as the company expands its ability to do more Apple Intelligence calculations on devices.
Users with access to Apple Intelligence will be able to do much more than in past versions of iOS, from accessing lighting tools to analyzing photos. Federighi said his family celebrated their dog’s recent birthday by sharing an exclusive Apple Intelligence-generated Image Playground piece with WIRED. But while Apple’s AI is designed to be as helpful and invisible as possible, the risks to the security of the infrastructure supporting it are incredibly high. So how is things going so far? Federighi sums it up without hesitation: “The rollout of private cloud computing has been surprisingly successful.”
Updated September 11, 2024, 9:00 PM EDT: This article explains the Apple Intelligence-generated image Federighi created for her dog’s birthday and explains why she is such a great dog. Updated with additional confirmation.
