Apple has clarified its position amid reports it used stolen YouTube video data to train Apple Intelligence. The company said that while it had used the data in the past, none of it was used to train Apple Intelligence.
Recently it was revealed that an AI research lab called EleutherAI had harvested subtitles from YouTube videos without the creators' consent. This data was then combined with data from Wikipedia, the U.K. Parliament and Enron Staff emails and added to a dataset called “the Pile.”
Apple had been accused of using the Pile’s data to train Apple Intelligence alongside companies like Nvidia and Salesforce. Recently, Apple stated that, while it has used the dataset in the past, it was only to train the OpenELM models it released in April. Apple then confirmed to Apple Insider that OpenELM models do not power any AI or machine learning features and were created to contribute to the research community.
Apple has stated that OpenELM models were never intended to be used for Apple Intelligence and has no plans to build any new versions of the OpenELM model. Apple has repeatedly claimed that it only uses ethical sources for its artificial intelligence projects, including paying millions to publishers and licensing images from photo library firms.
Apple Intelligence aims to revolutionize Apple’s products with major changes coming to Siri including the ability to maintain conversation context, making it feel more natural. Added to this is the news that Siri will be smart enough to understand and take action around the app you have on the screen at any time, which includes several new in-app actions. However, these features won’t all release at once and some won’t be seen until at least 2025.
AI production has shot up recently, leading to some concern about how data is gathered. The news that so many companies have used the Pile is concerning, but it is good to know that Apple is mostly focused on working with ethically sourced data.
For more information about everything coming with the next generation of Apple software then check out our full breakdown of Apple’s WWDC presentation.
