Apple Offers $1 Million to Hack Its New AI System

Apple has announced its readiness to offer a $1 million reward to anyone capable of hacking its new AI system, betting significantly on the security of its devices. The company clarified in statements reported by the British Daily Mail website the day before yesterday that it invites all security researchers or anyone with a technical interest to independently verify its claims.

The public has been tasked with testing the security of its “Private Cloud Compute,” the servers that will receive and process user requests for Apple Intelligence when an AI task is too complex to be handled on the device.

According to Apple, the system features end-to-end encryption and immediately deletes the user’s request once the task is completed. Different reward amounts are available for specific discoveries, but the million-dollar prize goes to anyone who can run code on the system undetected and access sensitive parts.

Apple Intelligence

Apple Intelligence is an integrated AI system that will be applied to the iPhone 16, 15 Pro, and 15 Pro Max at some point next week. The AI-powered product was revealed in September, showcasing new features for message sorting, generative writing, and creating unique emojis. However, only users of advanced iPhone 15 smartphones and the new iPhone 16 will be able to access the highly anticipated platform.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said this represents a new chapter in Apple’s innovation, explaining that customers can expect more integrated AI with their apps and devices from now on. Apple Intelligence focuses heavily on what are called “generative” AI models, allowing users to create text or images from prompts.

With this move, Apple aims to ensure its system is secure, stating in its announcement, “To further encourage your research in private cloud computing, we are expanding the Apple Security Bounty program to include rewards for vulnerabilities that compromise core security and privacy guarantees in Private Cloud Compute.”

The company previously allowed only third-party reviewers access to its private cloud computing, but now anyone can try. Those who wish to take on this challenge also have access to a security guide and a virtual environment that allows individuals to analyze Private Cloud Compute within the macOS Sequoia 15.1 developer preview. This means participants will need a Mac device with an M-series chip and at least 16 GB of RAM to access the service.

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Apple Offers $1 Million to Hack Its New AI System: details

Apple will pay $100,000 to anyone who can execute undocumented code or unverified code requests by the company. Anyone able to access user request data or other sensitive information beyond the trust boundaries, where the trust levels in program data or execution shift, can win up to $250,000.

If anyone accesses user request data or any other sensitive user information beyond the trust boundaries, they will receive $150,000. A small reward of $50,000 has been set for anyone who successfully breaches the system to reveal data accidentally or unexpectedly.

Apple stated, “We believe Private Cloud Compute is the most advanced security architecture ever deployed for AI cloud computing at scale, and we look forward to working with the research community to build trust in the system and make it more secure and private over time.” Most iOS users will have to wait until next week to get Apple Intelligence, but there will be a waiting list once it launches due to high anticipated demand.

The initial version of Apple Intelligence will include writing tools for review and rewriting, smart replies that respond quickly to messages, notification summaries, image cleaning, an initial redesign for Siri, and more. However, some features—including Genmoji, Image Playground, ChatGPT integration, and Visual Intelligence—are expected to be part of iOS 18.2, which should enter beta next month or so.

Additional solutions will arrive later; for example, the fully updated Siri system will not be available until 2025. Moreover, the release scheduled for next week is compatible only with U.S. English, meaning that countries outside the United States will have to wait until December to use Apple Intelligence in their languages.