Apple has announced that it will make all builds of its Private Cloud Compute (PCC) servers publicly accessible for review. This initiative aims to allow independent observers to verify Apple’s claims about PCC and ensure that everything is implemented correctly. Each server build is recorded in a cryptographic attestation log, which serves as a permanent record of verified assertions. This log includes URLs for downloading each specific build, ensuring that Apple cannot put a server into operation without proper logging. Moreover, this system acts as a security measure to block malicious actors from establishing unauthorized PCC nodes that could siphon off traffic. If a server build is not logged, iPhones will not send data or queries to it.
PCC is also a component of Apple’s bug bounty program, encouraging researchers to report vulnerabilities or misconfigurations for potential cash rewards. However, Apple has noted that since the release of the iOS 18.1 beta in late July, no flaws in PCC have been identified, and access to evaluation tools has been limited to a selected group of researchers so far.
Several security experts and cryptographers have shared with WIRED that while Private Cloud Compute appears promising, they have not yet had ample time to investigate it in depth.
“Creating Apple silicon servers when none existed before and developing a custom operating system for the data center was a significant achievement,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s software engineering head. He highlighted the importance of the trust model that ensures devices will not send requests to servers unless the software signatures have been recorded in the transparency log, calling it a pivotal factor for trust.
Addressing inquiries regarding Apple’s collaboration with OpenAI and the integration of ChatGPT, the company clarified that these partnerships are separate from PCC. ChatGPT features are defaults turned off, requiring users to enable them manually. If Apple’s intelligence system identifies a request better served by ChatGPT or another partner platform, it notifies users and seeks their permission to continue. Users can access these services while logged into partner accounts or use them through Apple without additional logins. Apple also announced in June that it is working on another integration with Google’s Gemini.
This week, Apple revealed that it plans to expand the reach of its intelligence system beyond U.S. English, with launches scheduled for Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom in December. The company also stated that it will introduce support for additional languages, including Chinese, French, Japanese, and Spanish, next year. However, whether Apple Intelligence will comply with the European Union’s AI Act and whether PCC can remain in its existing format in China is still uncertain.
“Our goal is to provide the best capabilities to all our customers wherever possible,” Federighi said. “However, we must adhere to regulations, and we are navigating uncertainties in specific regions to deliver these features as quickly as possible.”
He also mentioned that as Apple enhances its ability to perform more operations directly on devices, it may find ways to adapt in certain markets.
Users with access to Apple Intelligence will enjoy significantly enhanced capabilities compared to previous iOS versions, including tools for writing and photo analysis. Federighi shared that his family recently celebrated their dog’s birthday with a GenMoji generated by Apple Intelligence, which he confirmed to be quite adorable. Despite the intention for Apple’s AI to be unobtrusive and helpful, the security of the foundational infrastructure remains a vital concern. Overall, Federighi reported that “the rollout of Private Cloud Compute has been pleasantly uneventful.”.
