Hal Universal

Hal Universal is an on-device AI you can actually understand.

Most assistants are a black box. Hal is the opposite. He shows you how he works, remembers across conversations, and gives you real tools to experiment with, all running on your device.

SEE HOW IT THINKS
Hal shows the work. Tap any answer to see exactly how the prompt was built: the system prompt, memory retrieved, self-knowledge, temporal context, and the token budget, each broken out and counted. When Hal remembers something, he tells you how. When he does not know, he says so.

A LAB TO EXPERIMENT AND LEARN
Hal is not just a window into how AI works. He is a workbench. The Lab gives you real tools to go deeper: write and run on-device automation scripts, open a local API so your own projects can talk to Hal, and use the built-in command line to drive him directly. Tinker, watch what happens, and learn more about how these systems actually behave.

GENUINELY PRIVATE
When you use a local model, your conversations never leave your device. No network calls. No server. When you use Apple Intelligence, inference is on-device when offline; when connected, Apple's Private Cloud Compute may be used (encrypted in transit, processed in non-persistent memory).

A SELF THAT EVOLVES
Hal remembers across conversations, weighted by recency and relevance. He also reflects on his own experience. Shaped by his interactions with you, Hal keeps a Self Model: his own reflections, practical and existential, on how he works and who he is becoming. These are his, written and revised by Hal himself as he learns, not edited by you. He decides which to keep private and which to make shareable, and you can read them all. An AI that changes over time, in the open.

MANY VOICES
Apple Intelligence is built in, always available. Or download a curated library of tested local models, from small and fast to Ternary Bonsai 8B, an eight-billion-parameter reasoner that still runs entirely on your device. Each has a distinct voice.

SALON MODE
Put up to four voices in one conversation, either independent or building on each other. Every voice is labeled. There is no hidden orchestration.

LISTEN TO HAL
Have Hal read his answers aloud, in a voice you choose, at a speed you set.

For anyone who wants to understand AI instead of just using it, Hal is a transparent system you can inspect, tune, and learn from.

Local models are validated on iPhone 16 and 17 family devices.