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Apple's Private AI Will Run on Google's Servers

Baritone_Guy said:
That’s not how this works. It simply means they are using Google as a Hyperscaler. It’s like Netflix running on AWS. All the Apple data will be secured with their own private keys.
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The data that is processed by the AI models necessarily has to be decrypted for processing, in Google's data centers where the processing takes place. While administrative, operational and technical measures can in principle ensure privacy (but which independent party is auditing that?), it's different from just storing encrypted data in the cloud, where the client side is controlling the technical measures and no additional administrative and operational measures are needed.
 
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Baritone_Guy said:
It’s like everybody thinking they are using Gemini chat. They are only using the model. Nothing gets back to Google. Same idea as Copilot with Open AI or Anthropic these days.
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I don’t really understand your point that nothing gets back to google given the article says they are using google cloud…

MacRumors said:
Apple says the efforts it has made to bring PCC to Google Cloud will mean user data continues to be protected by PCC's security and privacy properties even outside of Apple hardware and data centers.
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SirithX said:
Cue all the armchair experts who will cry foul at the title alone. Running on Google servers isn't a privacy problem in and of itself, what matters is how the data is processed and governed. As a very basic example, if Apple employs one-way hashing on all data stored on non-Apple servers then it doesn't matter who owns the servers it's on, privacy stays intact. Just reading the content of this piece, it's clear there are a lot of protections in place.
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Google Cloud and the Google that wants all your data to sell ads are different business units. Reminds me of the people who were confused why Samsung made parts for the iPhone when it sells its own smartphones and would be helping its competitors. Again, it’s two different business units with different interests involved.

There’s another reason I don’t trust Google Cloud specifically though, and that is its dealings with a certain middle eastern country…not a political thread so I’ll leave it at that.

Unfortunately, because many companies use Google Cloud infrastructure, all of us likely already have data sitting on their servers.
 
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cateye said:
iCloud data is housed primarily on AWS and Google Cloud. So yeah, most of the people in this thread, assuming they use any iCloud services at all, already have data on Google servers.
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Absolutely true, of course, but what I more had in mind was the financial, medical, insurance, educational, and other commercial entities -- not to mention various governments -- using GC. Companies in these sectors have a lot of our information and it sure seems likely that for any given individual at least some personal information is stored or processed by a GC service. That Apple is, and (as you point out) has been, using these services is not particularly noteworthy. Apple's data privacy terms and conditions still apply.
 
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redheeler said:
Google Cloud and the Google that wants all your data to sell ads are different business units. Reminds me of the people who were confused why Samsung made parts for the iPhone when it sells its own smartphones and would be helping its competitors. Again, it’s two different business units with different interests involved.

There’s another reason I don’t trust Google Cloud specifically though, and that is its dealings with a certain middle eastern country…not a political thread so I’ll leave it at that.

Unfortunately, because many companies use Google Cloud infrastructure, all of us likely already have data sitting on their servers.
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Completely worthless point. Which one do you trust then? Does Apple have a better option? Apple doesn't own a powerful AI that's why Apple needs to use other company's. Period. Just wake up. All AI providers will monetize on the data, why would some company out there spend a ton without profiting from all kinds of way they can? Do you know how much it costs to build and operate a data center 24/7? Do you also know what 150,000 Nvidia H200 GPUs would cost? LOL 😀 Come on, use your brain or ask AI.
 
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sza said:
Which one do you trust then? Does Apple have a better option?
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Yes, exactly what it's been using up to now, its own infrastructure. But clearly that wasn't going to handle a switch to Google Gemini as a foundational model, and Apple officially admitted defeat in the AI arms race today. Mismanaged and unprepared. It was sad to see.
 
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Baritone_Guy said:
That’s not how this works. It simply means they are using Google as a Hyperscaler. It’s like Netflix running on AWS. All the Apple data will be secured with their own private keys.

See above.

See above, above 😉

See above, above, above.

You seem to be the only person so far that gets this.

It’s like everybody thinking they are using Gemini chat. They are only using the model. Nothing gets back to Google. Same idea as Copilot with Open AI or Anthropic these days.

It seems folks just want to be outraged for some reason.
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These forums are just an Apple themed outrage factory a lot of the time. Apple can be as transparent as they want, and have many third-parties audit their security, but people's minds are made up. They're going to hate regardless.
 
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Awful lot of people here who know nothing about how this works but still want to post to say “it’s not private”.

Google stores your iCloud Photos for Apple. Despite your photos/videos being stored on Google servers, Google doesn’t know:

- The person, device or IP they originated from.
- The actual content of the photos/videos.
- If they’re even photos and not some other data type.

Basically Google knows NOTHING even though it’s stored on their servers.

Not sure why people would think this will be any different.
 
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I hope I can turn all this off -- I don't want to contribute to demand for noisy, wasteful data centers.

And why do we need 12gb of RAM to do this stuff if it can run in the cloud?
 
sza said:
I don’t get why everyone’s still hung up on Google’s privacy issues. Does Apple really have a better alternative, and should it partner with Grok, LLaMA, or ChatGPT? 😀 Ultimately, any company that builds AI infrastructure can monetize it and target users with ads, so the core trade‑off is control versus dependence on third‑party models.

Apple has to suck it at this time. This is the result of missing the AI wave by focusing on the wrong priorities like the worthless goggle; now Apple has to pivot and secure deals with real AI model providers to stay competitive. Yes, Apple avoided huge upfront investment, but that saved capital comes with increased dependence on third‑party models and vendors.

Missing AI is reminiscent of Microsoft under Steve Ballmer, which failed to capitalize on the mobile market - when a CEO is not tech‑oriented and is overly profit‑driven, similar strategic blind spots can occur.

(I am not bashing Tim Cook, so don't ban me.)
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How about just not doing anything with AI? If you want it install an app from the App Store. Remember when OSs weren't expected to have everything? I mean Microsoft got anti-trust lawsuits in the 90s for bundling a browser with their OS. Now we have mobile OSes with a built in AI bots, photo apps, weather apps, calendar apps and hell even a journaling app.
 
gummybear2026 said:
What's the point of the wait list again when everything is powered by Google cloud servers?
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Because it's not? It's a whole complex system, with a lot running on your device, with some aspects being farmed out to cloud servers. The wait list lets them add load in a controlled manner.
 
Luftkopf said:
Because it's not? It's a whole complex system, with a lot running on your device, with some aspects being farmed out to cloud servers. The wait list lets them add load in a controlled manner.
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Google cloud servers can handle massive loads already. The wait list is just worthless hype.
 
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