Apple has temporarily halted a new artificial intelligence (AI) feature following criticism over frequent errors in its summaries of news headlines.
The feature, which sent notifications appearing to come from within news organisations’ apps, faced mounting pressure for removal due to inaccuracies.
“We are working on improvements and will include them in a future software update,” said an Apple spokesperson.
The BBC was among the groups to complain after an alert generated by Apple’s AI falsely claimed that Luigi Mangione, accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, had taken his own life.
Reports also highlighted inaccurate summaries from The New York Times and The Washington Post, sparking criticism from journalists and social media users.
Media outlets urged Apple to withdraw the feature, citing concerns about misinformation and declining trust in news.
Despite initially promising only a software update to clarify the use of AI in the summaries, Apple has now fully disabled the feature for news and entertainment apps.
“With the latest beta releases of iOS 18.3, iPadOS 18.3, and macOS Sequoia 15.3, notification summaries for the News & Entertainment category will be temporarily unavailable,” the spokesperson confirmed.
For other apps, AI-generated summaries will continue to appear but will be distinguished by italicised text.
A BBC spokesperson welcomed the decision, saying, “We’re pleased Apple has listened to our concerns and paused the summarisation feature for news. We look forward to collaborating on the next steps. Accuracy is crucial to maintaining trust in the news we deliver.”
Introduced in the UK in December, the feature aimed to improve user efficiency by consolidating and rewriting previews of recent app notifications into a single alert on lock screens.
The suspension comes amid growing pressure on Apple to demonstrate the potential of its AI advancements, which investors hoped would drive demand for iPhones and other products.
Apple’s shares fell by over 4% on Thursday following reports of declining sales in China.
