Apple drops artificial intelligence news tool that wrongly claimed Rafael Nadal was gay
"Brazilian tennis player, Rafael Nadal, comes out as gay"
Apple has rolled back an AI tool after it wrongly claimed former professional tennis player Rafael Nadal had come out as gay in an update of summarised news stories.
“Brazilian tennis player, Rafael Nadal, comes out as gay” read the push notification published earlier this month, and captured and recently reported on by The Telegraph.
Nadal, who was born in Manacor on the island of Mallorca, Spain, is married to Mery Perelló, with whom he is a parent to an infant son, Rafael.
According to the newspaper, the alert also told a number of iPhone users that the BBC had reported that Luke Littler was the winner of the PDC World Darts Championship final before it had commenced.
These are among a slew of inaccuracies that have reportedly plagued the tech giant since a recent update.
“We are working on improvements” – Apple spokesperson
Last month, the BBC publicly complained about the AI feature after it cited a non-existent BBC report that Luigi Mangione, who stands accused of killing healthcare boss Brian Thompson, had taken his own life.
Apple previously said it would update the feature, but this has now been suspended. Said a spokesman: “With the latest beta software releases of iOS 18.3, iPadOS 18.3, and macOS Sequoia 15.3, notification summaries for the News & Entertainment category will be temporarily unavailable.
“We are working on improvements and will make them available in a future software update.”
A BBC rep meanwhile responded: “We look forward to working with them constructively on next steps.
“Our priority is the accuracy of the news we deliver to audiences, which is essential to building and maintaining trust.”