Apple tests AI shopping assistant in Store app

Apple is preparing to introduce a virtual shopping assistant within its Apple Store app, according to details discovered in a recent update to the app's privacy policy. The feature, which has not been formally announced, was first spotted on July 22, suggesting the company may be testing it with a limited group of users ahead of a broader release.

The assistant will function as a chatbot where customers can ask questions about Apple products and services. According to the updated policy, the tool will collect a range of user data to personalize conversations and provide relevant responses. This data includes Apple account information, device identifiers, carrier details, chat transcripts, and, if enabled, location data.

A notable aspect of the policy is Apple's disclosure that it will share scrubbed chat transcripts with unnamed "partners" to help generate conversational responses. The company states it removes personal identifiers from these transcripts before sharing them, but the context of the conversation, along with device and shopping behavior information, is retained. This language strongly suggests the shopping assistant will rely, at least in part, on third-party large...