According to MacRumors, Apple Inc. has recently updated the privacy policy of the Apple Store app, hinting at the upcoming launch of a "virtual shopping assistant" feature. This feature aims to answer product questions and assist users in decision-making through a generative AI conversation interface. Previously, Apple introduced a similar virtual assistant in the Apple Support app. This time, the AI interaction capability is extended to retail terminals, marking a key strategic move for Apple to enhance AI-driven e-commerce retail experiences.

In terms of functional logic and data mechanisms, the assistant will collect account information, device identifiers, carrier information, chat history, and location data to provide highly personalized recommendations. In terms of privacy protection and compliance, Apple clearly states that before sharing chat data with third-party partners, it will undergo thorough anonymization, removing all personal identifiers. Partners can only use the data to generate conversation responses. Additionally, chat records will be stored for users to review, business analysis, and experience optimization with user authorization.

At present, the virtual shopping assistant has not been officially launched but is expected to be in internal or small-scale testing. As terminal devices and large models become more deeply integrated, Apple is seamlessly embedding AI chat assistants into e-commerce scenarios. This not only helps improve conversion efficiency and user experience but also accelerates the adoption of generative AI in the consumer retail ecosystem.