On Monday, reports revealed that Apple is considering a significant change in how it powers its voice assistant, Siri.
Instead of relying solely on its AI technology, Apple is exploring partnerships with leading AI companies, OpenAI and Anthropic, to use their advanced large language models (LLMs) for Siri’s next upgrade.
Apple explores OpenAI and Anthropic for Siri’s AI brain
Apple has been developing an internal AI project called “LLM Siri,” aiming to create proprietary AI models for its assistant.
However, the company has faced delays and technical challenges that have pushed the launch of this new Siri version beyond its original 2025 target, now expected no earlier than 2026.
These setbacks have prompted Apple to contact OpenAI and Anthropic, requesting customized versions of their AI models that can operate on Apple’s cloud infrastructure for testing.
This move marks a departure from Apple’s traditional in-house approach of building all core technologies. While Apple currently uses its models for most AI features, it allows Siri to access OpenAI’s ChatGPT for complex queries.
The new plan would deepen this integration, potentially replacing Apple’s internal AI with third-party models to accelerate development and improve Siri’s capabilities.
Challenges prompt Apple’s AI strategy reversal
Apple’s internal AI efforts have struggled with competitors like Google, Amazon, and OpenAI, whose voice assistants and AI tools have set higher user expectations.
Industry insiders say Apple’s in-house models lag in performance, which may explain why the company is considering outsourcing Siri’s AI “brainpower” to external experts.
The delay and rethinking of Siri’s AI upgrade also reflect broader challenges Apple faces in the fast-moving generative AI space.
Despite investing billions in AI research and cloud infrastructure, Apple’s AI team has reportedly found it difficult to convert Siri’s architecture into a next-generation assistant that rivals those powered by OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Anthropic’s Claude.
Apple’s leadership has taken steps to address these issues, including appointing Mike Rockwell, head of Vision Pro, to oversee AI and Siri development after CEO Tim Cook lost confidence in previous management.
Rockwell’s team is actively testing AI models from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google to evaluate which performs best for basic requests and overall user experience.
This strategic reconsideration could reshape Apple’s AI roadmap, blending its commitment to privacy and ecosystem control with the advanced capabilities of third-party AI. While the talks are still in early stages and no final decision has been made, the possibility of Siri being powered by OpenAI or Anthropic signals a new chapter in Apple’s voice assistant evolution.
