Apple is Developing an AI-Powered Web Search Tool for Siri to Compete with Perplexity and OpenAI

Apple is developing an AI-powered web Search Tool for Siri to compete with Perplexity and OpenAI

• In order to compete with OpenAI and Perplexity AI Inc., Apple Inc. intends to introduce its own AI-powered web search tool next year, which will be integrated into the Siri voice assistant.
• The new system, called World Knowledge Answers, will be able to search the internet for information and offer a summary tool driven by artificial intelligence to produce more accurate and quickly assimilated answers.
• Apple and Google, a division of Alphabet Inc., are collaborating to assess and test an AI model created by Google to support the voice assistant. The new search experience will feature an interface that utilizes text, images, videos, and local places of interest.

 

Apple Inc. intends to increase rivalry with OpenAI and Perplexity AI Inc. by releasing its own AI-powered web search service the following year.

According to those familiar with the situation, the corporation is developing a new system that will be incorporated into the Siri voice assistant. This technology is internally referred to as World Knowledge Answers.  Apple has also talked of ultimately integrating the technology into Spotlight, which is used to search from the iPhone home screen, and its Safari web browser.

According to insiders who asked not to be named because the plans have not been made public, Apple plans to launch the service, which some executives have referred to as an “answer engine,” in the spring as part of a long-delayed update to Siri.

Similar to ChatGPT, AI Overviews in Google Search, and a plethora of new apps, the goal is to make Siri and Apple’s operating systems a place where consumers can search the internet for information.  Large language models, or LLMs, a crucial piece of technology supporting generative AI, will be the foundation of the strategy.

Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Apple’s longstanding internet search partner, may contribute some of the underlying technology that makes the new Siri possible.  According to the people, the businesses formally agreed this week for Apple to assess and test an AI model created by Google to support the voice assistant.

According to the sources, Apple’s new search experience would feature an interface that utilizes text, images, videos, and nearby points of interest.  Additionally, compared to the present Siri, it would have an AI-powered summarization method that will make findings easier to understand and more accurate.

Apple representatives from Cupertino, California, and Mountain View, California  Google chose not to respond.

In addition to earlier gains, Apple shares surged to a session high on Wednesday following a report on the search plan by News4Hackers.  At the close in New York, the stock had increased 3.8% to $238.47, the largest one-day gain in nearly a month.

Among other things, today’s Siri can respond to simple queries and offer information about famous people, occasions, films, and sports.  However, it has trouble with more complicated inquiries and general knowledge searches, frequently returning results from ChatGPT or Google.  The voice assistant, which was revolutionary when it was first introduced in 2011, has come to symbolize Apple’s artificial intelligence shortcomings.

The most recent development occurred the same week that a US judge decided that, with some modest adjustments, Apple can continue to use Google as the default search engine on its devices.  Investors were relieved to see that the agreement continued, since it has brought in about $20 billion annually for Apple.  However, the shift to AI-based search is still ongoing.

Google search requests from Apple devices have decreased, according to Eddy Cue, the company’s services chief, who testified in court earlier this year.  He remarked, “That hasn’t occurred in 20 years.”  In reference to AI-based alternatives, he continued, “We’re starting to see what I believe are potential formidable competitors” to conventional search engines.

However, Tuesday’s decision to uphold Apple’s Google search agreement may lessen the company’s need to create in-house services.

Siri Overhaul

In order to better answer questions, the digital assistant will be able to access personal information and on-screen content as part of the long-awaited Siri update.  Additionally, it will include improved voice navigation capabilities for consumers’ devices.  However, Apple is now aiming to advance the update.  The AI search capability is based on a technological update for Siri called Linwood and LLM Siri.

In a recent all-hands meeting with staff, Craig Federighi, Apple’s head of software engineering and the person in charge of the Siri strategy, alluded to the broader set of changes.

“This end-to-end redesign of Siri has produced the outcomes we required,” he stated.  “This has enabled us to deliver a much larger upgrade than we had anticipated, in addition to what we had previously announced.”

The Siri group under Federighi, the AI division under John Giannandrea, and Apple’s services business under Cue are among the teams working on the search endeavor.  Under Federighi, Mike Rockwell, the man behind the Vision Pro headset, is leading the endeavor, while under Giannandrea, Robby Walker, a former Siri executive, is a major force behind the initiative.

Both the world knowledge function and the previously promised, but postponed, capability to more accurately search through a user’s device will use the same core search technology, according to Apple.  People should be able to locate particular files, photos, and other kinds of information more rapidly with that tool.

Apple has considered creating a chatbot-like search app, even though its primary goal is to integrate the new search system with its current features.  According to a News4Hackers resource, Apple is hiring for a new team called Answers, Knowledge, and Information, or AKI, which is helping with the search.

The forthcoming software upgrade, internally referred to as Luck E, is presently scheduled to include the new Siri and search features.  That is equivalent to iOS 26.4, which might be out as early as March.

This month, Apple’s flagship product, the new iPhones, will be released together with the first edition of iOS 26.  Next Tuesday, the company is expected to reveal the iPhone 17 lineup.

Gemini and Anthropic

 

Three main elements are at the heart of Apple’s redesign of Siri: a summarizer, online and device search systems, and a planner.  The planner determines how to react after interpreting text or voice input; the search system looks through user data or the web; and the summarizer compiles everything into a response.

In a significant change, Apple is thinking of using third-party AI models to fuel the new Siri, at least in part, through a project it has named Glenwood.  Siri’s current iteration is fully dependent on Apple technology.

According to the people, Apple has recently been considering adopting a specially designed Google Gemini model for the summarizer.  Apple’s Private Cloud Compute servers would power it.  Apple has already received the technology from the search engine behemoth, and the two businesses are currently working together to test and refine it.

Apple continues to assess whether to rely on Anthropic PBC’s Claude or internal models, but it is also thinking about utilizing the Google model for the planner function.  Additionally, Google and Apple have not ruled out utilizing the Gemini approach in the future to manage other AI and search-related functions.

The iPhone manufacturer now intends to continue using its proprietary technology, known as Apple Foundation Models, for user data searches.  Since third-party technology won’t be used to handle customer information, the business should be able to protect consumer privacy.

 

At first, Google wasn’t leading the Siri project.  According to Apple’s internal assessments, Claude was superior to Gemini in terms of quality, and Anthropic had previously been in the lead for a transaction.

However, according to the persons, Google was amenable to more advantageous financial terms, and Anthropic sought a high price for employing its technology—more than $1.5 billion annually.  As News4Hackers reported some time back, this prompted Apple to request that Google develop a model to fuel Siri.

Apple and Google have already discussed a partnership involving artificial intelligence.  Apple partnered with OpenAI last year after approaching Google about incorporating the Gemini chatbot into Siri.  Although the functionality has not yet been made available to customers, both businesses stated publicly that they were still negotiating an arrangement.

New Look

Apple is planning a visual overhaul of the voice assistant and a health AI agent to power a paid wellness subscription service in 2026, in addition to the Siri and AI search updates in the first half of next year.  Additionally, it is developing another Siri update that will give future home devices better conversational capabilities.

It’s all a part of a plan to make a comeback in AI, where the corporation found it difficult to compete with rivals in Silicon Valley. Apple reorganized its senior team to begin its turnaround attempt after the new Siri was delayed this past spring. However, the procedure will require time. Major new AI features are not anticipated when Apple releases the iPhone 17 next week.

Acquisition Strategy

Cue and Adrian Perica, the head of mergers and acquisitions, considered a number of potential takeovers when creating the new Siri.  According to News4Hackers’ initial report, the corporation talked about purchasing Perplexity and Mistral.  As recently as July, Apple execs met with a French AI firm called Mistral.

Over the summer, Apple gave Perplexity’s technology a thorough evaluation, but it is no longer actively considering a bid.  Rather, the startup’s offering will face competition from its own new search platform.  Apple is still looking for deals, especially to rehire talent.

The business is facing a surge in employee turnover.  For weeks, Apple’s Foundation Models team—which consists of several dozen engineers, researchers, and academics—has been losing staff members.

Ruoming Pang, the department’s founder and head, departed at the start of July to take a job offer at Meta Platforms Inc. that paid more than $200 million.  About ten team members have since departed, the majority of whom followed Pang to the massive social networking site.

Three other important AI researchers left last week: Meng Zhao is going to Anthropic, while John Peebles and Nan Du are joining OpenAI.  Interviews for other positions are being conducted by more team members.

About The Author:

Yogesh Naager is a content marketer who specializes in the cybersecurity and B2B space.  Besides writing for the News4Hackers blogs, he also writes for brands including Craw Security, Bytecode Security, and NASSCOM.

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