Apple bets on AI to keep Safari ahead in iOS 18

This is the curtain on the new safari era. Due to a new regulation in Europe requiring browsers to use the Vivaldi engine, Apple has decided to change the browser engine of the Safari browser to an entirely new artificial intelligence system in iOS18. This will be a big step forward for Safari – AI will be the driving force behind it.

It’s a battlefield – where browsers like Chrome, Edge, and Firefox, to name a few, fight for space. To stand out, Apple is reportedly working on two key AI features: encrypted picture search and a Safari web browsing assistant. Among the features they should introduce would be Microsoft’s successful product Copilot AI, which works like the ones already seen in Edge. Such projections may also include a web search tool and an AI chatbot.

Still, do we have a group that will deliver on Apple’s AI ambitions? According to analyst Mark Gurman, Apple may start with software or platforms that work with their current hardware rather than creating their own ChatGPT competition. In contrast, newcomers here may consider collaborating with existing industry powerhouses such as Google, Baidu, or OpenAI in the US and China, respectively. This way they can hire experts from the existing pool of AI experts as quickly as possible.

However, Apple not only applies to the current AI development process but also conducts some studies on it. Taking advantage of the funding received from the decommissioning of their connected car project, they have invented Ferret-AI, a learning software that installs seamlessly into the iOS interface and creates a personalized interaction with the user. One way to interpret the hypothetical story is that it is a glimpse of a future where Apple’s AI is more sophisticated and developed.

Whether the Safari Browsing Assistant has already fully designed its features and is ready to demo or the Apple team has some last-minute tricks up its sleeve is yet to be revealed during the WWDC event in June. But one thing is clear: by investing Apple AI, Safari manages to embellish the mobile browser into something larger than life.