Apple Safari browser to reportedly get major AI upgrade with article summary, web scraping features

Apple’s Safari web browser is reportedly getting a major upgrade and could soon feature artificial intelligence (AI)-powered features. Earlier this month, a report claimed that Safari could be one of the first Apple apps to get AI features. Now, another report states that the company is currently conducting internal tests of a host of new features for the Safari 18 build that will ship with iOS 18 and macOS 15. The tech giant is also said to be working on a system-wide visual product search function.

According to a report from AppleInsider, Safari’s next update could come with a small interface change, article summarization features, web page content blocking, and even an AI-powered assistant. Citing unnamed people familiar with the development, the report said Apple is currently evaluating the performance and viability of these features. The publication also shared images of the features.

New Safari browser features

The most notable feature mentioned in the report is smart search. The feature is said to use Apple’s AI technology on the device, specifically the Ajax language learning model, to summarize web pages and articles. Based on the shared examples, the AI ​​function summarizes the text into topic headings and small paragraphs describing the topics. It should be noted that similar features are also offered by Google with its Gemini AI and Microsoft’s Copilot. It is not known whether the smart assistant will offer other features such as text generation.

Article summarization feature in the Safari browser
Photo: AppleInsider

Another AI-powered feature Apple is working on for its Safari 18 browser is called Web Eraser, according to the report. It is a content blocking tool that can remove any element from a web page. The tool can be used to delete advertising banners, images and even text from a page. The Safari browser is said to remember the items removed by the user even when the session ends. Opening the same page next time automatically adds the same effect and allows you to return to the unlocked view.

Safari’s web scraper feature
Photo: AppleInsider

Apart from these, the browser also gets a minor change in the interface. A new page control menu is reportedly being added to the address bar. This menu will contain the options to enable the aforementioned features, as well as include various other tools that are currently scattered across different menus in Safari. Based on the screenshot, it also includes the ‘Aa’ option and zoom feature. It should be noted that the interface of the new Safari browser remains the same in the iOS 18 and macOS 15 versions, suggesting that the tech giant may unify the browser experience on both devices.

The new Safari browser controls page
Photo: AppleInsider

Finally, the report highlights that Apple is working on improving its visual search feature, which currently exists in the Photos app and identifies plants, pets and landmarks from photos. The report claims that Apple is trying to make this feature system-wide so that it works on every screen, including Safari web pages. The improvement in underdevelopment is said to be powered by AI.