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Apple’s accidental AI feature roll-out in China risks regulatory backlash, expert says
Mainland China users briefly access Apple Intelligence before the update vanishes, raising questions over compliance and regulatory approval
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Ben Jiangin Beijing
Apple’s accidental roll-out on Tuesday of its highly anticipated Apple Intelligence feature in mainland China – which has yet to receive regulatory approval – before swiftly pulling it could raise the ire of regulators and expose the US tech giant to potential penalties, an industry expert warned.
The brief release could have violated local rules on artificial intelligence security evaluations, algorithm filings and data protection, according to You Yunting, a Shanghai-based intellectual property lawyer.
Even though the company immediately pulled the release, the fact that Apple “pushed the feature to Chinese users before completing security evaluation and algorithm filing could be deemed as providing service without fulfilling legal compliance obligations, subjecting it to the risk of administrative penalties”, You said.
The company stunned China users in the early hours of Tuesday by making the long-overdue feature update – a package of AI-powered tools to enhance and personalise user experience across Apple devices – available to select users, according to local user accounts.
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