Apple is planning to launch a new AI-powered web search tool for Siri next year, according to a new report from Bloomberg, as it seeks to compete with competitors who’ve invested heavily in AI. Details are still scarce and could change before launch, but it sounds like the whole thing could be powered by a custom version of Google’s Gemini.
The new system is being called World Knowledge Answers internally, according to Bloomberg, and may even be added to Safari and Spotlight. An AI-powered version of Siri has been long delayed, after Apple promised in 2024 that it would be available in June 2025. That, of course, was pushed back.
The new AI features for Siri will likely create a search experience on Apple devices that utilizes the unique access it has to things like text, photos, and videos. And it’s likely to create summaries based on web searches that are more powerful than what’s available with the currently anemic Siri.
But even if a custom-built Gemini is used for some functions like summarizing, it would probably run on Apple’s own Private Cloud Compute servers in order to maintain privacy, according to Bloomberg. Google has already reportedly delivered Gemini’s summarizing tech to Apple, but it’s still being fine-tuned. Apple previously considered buying Perplexity but is no longer interested, according to the news outlet.
Privacy has been a tricky problem to solve when tech companies tackle AI. OpenAI’s Sam Altman has warned that anyone using ChatGPT as a therapist should know that there are no doctor-patient confidentiality laws for AI chatbots. And Signal’s Meredith Whittaker has warned that agentic AI capabilities are extremely difficult to pull off in an encrypted way.
Apple has gotten some heat from investors for seemingly slipping behind other startups in implementing AI. But there has been good reason to be cautious. Generative artificial intelligence often doesn’t work as advertised, and there are a number of hurdles to making it safe. OpenAI has learned that lesson the hard way, as reports of AI psychosis flood the internet.
But Cook has recently signaled that he understands how transformative the tech could be for Apple, dubbing the AI revolution “as big or bigger” than the internet during a global all-hands meeting last month.
Apple’s ramp-up with AI is expected to take some time, as Bloomberg notes. The company is announcing a new iPhone next week, but the device isn’t expected to have any “major” new AI features.
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