Apple's iOS 18 beta and Amazon's AI assistant top the Innovation Index

Welcome to ZDNET's Innovation Index, which identifies the most innovative developments in tech from the past week and ranks the top four, based on votes from our panel of editors and experts. Our mission is to help you identify the trends that will have the biggest impact on the future.

Topping the Index this week was Apple's iOS 18 public beta, which brought to life many of the features our editors and experts were most excited about during WWDC last month. As expected, the features are subtle, customizable, and even fun, according to ZDNET editor-in-chief Jason Hiner, who has been testing iOS 18 since the keynote event. Standouts are the new integrated passwords app and creative freedom now associated with the home screen appearance and Messages app. But what it provides is as notable as what it lacks. It's significant that the beta does not include any of the Apple Intelligence features many of us are waiting to try. Especially as companies like Samsung roll out their own AI functionality, consumer standards for personal device AI could shift rapidly by the time users get to try Apple Intelligence on the iPhone.  

In second place is Amazon for releasing Rufus, its AI shopping assistant, as part of its Prime Day promotion. Functioning much like ChatGPT, Rufus helps Amazon shoppers navigate the frenzy that was the e-commerce giant's annual summer sale event. While the chatbot is a standard issue technologically speaking, Rufus marks another step in the shift towards personalized AI agents integrating with every part of a consumer's digital experience, even at the most mundane level.

Coming in at #3 is Scribe, Proton's new AI writing assistant. The company, known for Proton Mail, its encrypted, privacy-first email service, emphasized that Scribe won't misuse your data, because it isn't trained on content from user inboxes. Integrated with Proton Mail, Scribe uses localized AI as opposed to going through the cloud, much like Apple Intelligence will. The tool aims to meet the needs of those who want the productivity benefits of AI chatbots without the potential data insecurity.  If it makes good on its promises, the release could be a turning point in what has otherwise been a begrudging trade-off of AI access for lack of privacy -- meaning more people using chatbots more comfortably. 

Closing out this week is the ripple effect of Samsung's Galaxy AI upgrades, unveiled at Samsung Unpacked last week. Similarly to Apple's approach, the features aim to simplify and improve upon device basics. However, according to ZDNET's Kerry Wan, because "every manufacturer's AI features are about the same in terms of functionality and use, whether it's Apple, Samsung, or Google," availability is key. "Samsung's Galaxy AI features have been on the market longer than Apple's and are more widely available across Galaxy phone models," Wan notes. This not only puts Apple in the position of playing catch-up, but is further complicated given that Apple Intelligence will likely only be supported by the iPhone 15 Pro and the still-to-come iPhone 16 series.

Lastly, an honorable mention: OpenAI's release of a "smaller" GPT-4o cuts developer costs drown dramatically, and the model itself performs similarly to the original GPT-4o. We'll be waiting to see how developers make the most of this limber new model.