Apple Suspends AI-Generated News Summaries Following Backlash Over Fake Headlines
Apple has temporarily disabled its new artificial intelligence (AI) feature for summarizing news notifications after multiple incidents of inaccurate and misleading headlines sparked criticism from media organizations and press freedom advocates.
The feature, part of Apple’s widely promoted Apple Intelligence service, faced scrutiny after generating false headlines that closely resembled standard push notifications. The errors prompted a wave of backlash, including formal complaints from The BBC and other organizations.
On Thursday, Apple released a beta software update for developers that deactivates the AI feature for news and entertainment headlines. The company stated it plans to improve the technology and reintroduce it in a future update. Additionally, Apple intends to include clearer disclosures to inform users that the summaries are AI-generated and may contain inaccuracies.
High-Profile Errors Spark Criticism
The controversy escalated last month when The BBC reported significant inaccuracies in Apple’s AI-generated summaries. One notification falsely claimed that Luigi Mangione, accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare’s CEO, had died by suicide. Another incident summarized three unrelated New York Times articles into a single false headline, suggesting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been arrested.
BBC representatives emphasized the importance of accurate news reporting, calling on Apple to address the issue urgently. “These AI summaries do not reflect – and in some cases completely contradict – the original content,” a BBC spokesperson stated.
Similarly, The Washington Post highlighted the technology’s flaws when an AI summary falsely combined unrelated news alerts. “It’s wildly irresponsible that Apple doesn’t disable summaries for news apps until it gets better at this AI thing,” wrote Geoffrey Fowler, the newspaper’s technology columnist.
Press Freedom Groups Raise Concerns
Organizations like Reporters Without Borders and the National Union of Journalists expressed alarm over the potential harm to public trust in journalism. Reporters Without Borders described the feature as “a danger to the public’s right to reliable information,” while the journalist union warned of the risks of consumers second-guessing the accuracy of news. Both groups urged Apple to suspend the feature permanently.
Broader AI Challenges
Apple’s AI-generated summaries join a growing list of controversies involving generative AI models. Known for “hallucinating” plausible but false information, these models have faced criticism for their inability to reliably distinguish fact from fiction.
“Large-language models don’t possess knowledge of truth—they generate plausible-sounding answers, whether accurate or fabricated,” explained Suresh Venkatasubramanian, a professor at Brown University and co-author of the White House’s AI Bill of Rights blueprint.
A 2024 study from Cornell University and other institutions confirmed that major AI models continue to struggle with producing factual information, highlighting ongoing challenges in the field.
Apple has not provided a timeline for reintroducing the feature but has reaffirmed its commitment to improving the accuracy and reliability of its AI technologies.
