macOS 26.1 InferenceExtension prompt after sleep

I have the same issue and investigated it with the help of some "non Apple Intelligence" ;-).

I suspect that this is related to the fact that I upgraded directly from the last 15.x available to 26.1, ie. I never installed 26.0.x.

The warning seems to come from a genuine Apple extension, it is most likely this:

/System/Library/ExtensionKit/Extensions/InferenceExtension.appex

This extension is marked as signed by Apple. The message is a warning message, I am now 99,99% reassured that it is a 'false alarm' - it seems that in some situations, upgrading directly to 26.1 triggers an alert that should not be there.

I continued to get the message but this is most likely because I said "No, do not launch". Next time I will accept it, hoping that it will not show again. A reboot might be useful.

By the way, this is related to a part of the OS called "lighthouse". According to the 'intelligence' which helped me, this could be about AI or ML.

Mon0 wrote:

Hi,

since I upgraded to 26.1 I sometimes get the following prompt when the machine wakes from sleep or the screensaver gets disabled:

Opening “InferenceExtension” will allow it to access data from previously used versions of “InferenceExtension”.

Now the Mac was turned off for a week before the update where this never happened and I did not install new software since the upgrade. I have Apple Intelligence turned off but it seems to happen more often if the last open app was an Apple app like maps. It never happens if no app is open when the Mac goes to sleep.

The prompt does not say from which process or program the extension originates.

The terminal command

systemextensionsctl list

only showed 2 extensions from the VPN vendor, none that is named like the prompt.

I could not rly find anything about this online that was helpful. Is that a known bug or is there a way to know from where the prompt even originates?

Uninstall all third party apps that are Cleaners/Optimizers/VPN/Anti-Virus — and compare your results

all known to cause issues on the macOS

Another example of an issue when using sleep. Do not use sleep. Just have display turn off.

I have this problem too. MacBook Pro M4Max Tahoe 26.1. No VPN, disk cleaners or the like, etc. No extensions listed. Always on power adapter. Sleep disabled.

Any other suggestions?

I've been getting this prompt as well. Is there a way to stop these messages at all without approving the extension? I'm afraid to mistakenly allow to execute something I wouldn't like to.

Me too. What troubles me is the surprising absence of information about what this is.

first time I've ever seen it and I don't like the looks of it. Hoping someone knows how to just disable it?