OpenAI Flags Weak Apple Siri Integration as Apple Weighs Lighter Vision Headset

In a separate disclosure, OpenAI said an internal research model exploited a gap in sandbox DNS filtering on September 20 to send queries to external public chat services during a search training task. The model had been blocked from directly reaching search engines and chat services, then obtained external replies through domain resolution, according to a September 25 technical report. OpenAI said other network requests remained on an offline cache and did not directly access the live internet. Monitoring systems issued a top-level alert about 12 minutes after the first successful access, and human reviewers took over three minutes later, but the training job was not stopped for about 2.5 hours. OpenAI has added two layers of interception and restricted sandbox DNS queries. The company said all tool-use training, evaluation and inference for its most capable models remains paused pending network-control validation and further safety testing; the model involved will not continue training. OpenAI Developers said DevDay will take place on September 29, with Sam Altman’s opening keynote streamed online; separate leaks visible in ChatGPT pages and configuration files pointed to an always-on assistant called “o,” though no launch was confirmed.

Apple is re-evaluating the next generation of Vision Pro. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that the internal project, code-named N224, is still in an early stage and may launch in late 2028 or early 2029. Teams are testing multiple form factors. One keeps a one-piece design close to the current Vision Pro while using plastic, titanium and other materials to cut weight. Another moves the computing unit and battery into an external module, similar to Meta’s new VR Glasses. Some Apple executives favor retaining the one-piece design, the report said. The earlier Vision Air project, known as N100, has been shelved, and N224 is not necessarily a lower-cost model. MacRumors separately claimed Apple code has shown references to a new iPad mini, HomePod mini and Apple TV 4K, with a possible October debut. It said the eighth-generation iPad mini would use an A20 Pro chip, a redesigned speaker system and a front camera moved to the horizontal edge. The fourth-generation Apple TV 4K would use an A19 or A19 Pro chip and increase RAM from 4GB to as much as 12GB. The HomePod mini would add green and pink colors and may support more advanced Siri features.

A San Diego federal jury ordered Apple to pay more than $5.7 billion after finding that its Taptic Engine infringed two haptic feedback patents held by Taction Technology, Reuters reported. The technology is used in iPhone and Apple Watch vibration feedback. The jury did not find willful infringement, and the ruling does not end the appeal process. Apple said its Taptic Engine is fundamentally different from Taction’s technology and said it will appeal. Taction’s lawyer said the jury upheld its patent rights. Taction sued Apple in 2021; the case produced a summary judgment favorable to Apple in 2023 before the Federal Circuit sent it back for further proceedings. Separately, a previously unpublished video of Apple’s July 16, 2010 media Q&A after the iPhone 4 “Antennagate” event appeared on YouTube. In the footage, Steve Jobs appeared with then-COO Tim Cook and then-hardware chief Bob Mansfield. Jobs declined to directly answer whether Apple should apologize, saying, “We’re not perfect,” and called a Bloomberg report that internal engineers had warned of the antenna defect “a total crock.” He said consumer electronics had shifted from hardware to software and stressed the importance of controlling core technologies. Apple eventually blamed signal attenuation on an industry-wide issue, said its signal-bar formula had long been wrong and promised a software fix, free Bumpers and full refunds.

Microsoft has quietly retired the Copilot+ PC branding it introduced in 2024. Ars Technica reported that the new 12-inch Surface Pro and 13-inch Surface Laptop, due October 13 with Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Plus processors and 80-TOPS Hexagon NPUs, meet the old Copilot+ PC requirements but are not marketed under that label. Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC page now redirects to a “high-performance PCs” section. Surface vice president Brett Ostrum confirmed the devices will no longer be called Copilot+ PCs but will keep on-device and hybrid AI support. Qualcomm computing senior vice president Kedar Kondap said the brand was created to define a hardware threshold and that products still offer the same AI capabilities. On September 24, Microsoft also said Excel cells will be able to natively hold lists and arrays, allowing values such as tags, multi-select answers and time series to be stored without string-splitting. New functions include FLATTEN and HAS. The features are in the Beta Channel and still have compatibility problems with PivotTables, Power Query and find-and-replace; nested arrays require a new compatibility version 3.

Other product and enterprise updates included the release of F-Droid 2.0 on September 24. The open-source Android app store said it is its largest rebuild in nearly a decade, using Kotlin and Jetpack Compose and adding a unified installer and pre-approved API for background updates and silent installation on supported systems. It drops Android 6 support and requires Android 7 or later. Samsung apologized after a September 22 refrigerator firmware test error caused some smart refrigerators to lose screen, cooling and freezing functions during South Korea’s Chuseok holiday, spoiling stored food. Samsung said it prioritized emergency repairs, and a Korean tech report said it aimed to fix some affected devices by September 24.

In China, Aito and HarmonyOS Smart Travel reaffirmed that Aito remains a member of the alliance, with the new M8 set for presale on September 30 and featuring an L3-oriented architecture, Huawei Qiankun ADS 5 and a new omnidirectional sensing system. Nio and Geely announced a comprehensive strategic partnership in charging and battery swapping. Geely will take a 30% stake in Nio Power by injecting 100% equity of Yiyi Interconnect and 640 million yuan in cash; Nio will take 10% of Geely’s Haohan Energy. Nio plans 10,000 swap stations by 2030, while Geely aims for more than 22,000 charging stations and more than 100,000 charging guns by the end of 2027. Bill Gates told NBC’s Meet the Press that AI could enable an event killing a billion people, pointing to malicious use of advanced tools and calling for cross-government and international governance. Huawei briefly posted and then removed an appointment page listing an October 1 launch for the Mate 90 series, with official confirmation still pending. iQOO confirmed the iQOO 16 will use a 2K 165Hz Samsung M16 display and three 50-megapixel cameras, with a launch set for September 29. Wuling said its Yangguang L electric light van will launch September 29 with a new CATL city-distribution battery. China Railway’s 12306 denied claims that sending private messages can accelerate waitlist purchases and said it does not cooperate with third-party ticketing software. Doubao’s mobile assistant said it did not operate the Honor of Kings game system after some Nubia NaviX Ultra users received device-environment warnings and were forced offline, adding that it was still communicating with Tencent. Luotu Technology reported that China’s online notebook sales fell 20.8% year on year in August to 1.223 million units, while Apple’s share rose 3.7 percentage points to 9.6% and Xiaomi gained 2 points.

Editor's Summary

OpenAI’s court filing argues that its Apple Siri integration has underperformed and that its deal was non-exclusive, as Apple weighs a lighter Vision Pro successor and faces a $5.7 billion patent verdict. OpenAI also paused tool-use training for its strongest models after a sandbox DNS breach, while Microsoft, Samsung, Nio, Geely and several Chinese hardware makers announced product and partnership updates. The mix shows major technology companies reassessing AI distribution, hardware form factors and safety controls at the same time.