Siri has never been known for being particularly smart, but Apple is hoping to fix that reputation with its next iOS update by letting you pick the assistant’s brain. According to a report from Bloomberg, iOS 27 will give iPhone users the ability to swap in their AI model of choice to serve as the default across many of Apple’s AI-driven features, including its infamous assistant.
Per the report, Google’s Gemini will be the default choice for Apple Intelligence features like Writing Tools, Image Playground, and Siri. But the company will also be introducing “Extensions,” which will allow users to install the apps of other AI models and then use those to power parts of the Apple Intelligence suite. That means third-party options like Anthropic’s Claude will be available to plug in and play within the iOS ecosystem.
This move has been rumored for a while now, and it fits nicely with Apple’s chosen approach to AI in general. While its rollout of AI features has been a bit of a mess, regularly missing deadlines for anticipated AI offerings and requiring a significant shakeup in its executive ranks to get everything in order, the company has landed on an option that’ll probably serve its users well: choice.
Last year, it was revealed that Apple would pay $1 billion to make Google’s Gemini its go-to model for making Siri smarter. But the fact that the company is opening its platform to other players will give users optionality at a time when AI companies are trying to lock in users as best they can. Apple, of course, still gets plenty of benefit: It’ll skim a nice fee off every subscription that is driven through the App Store. So when someone signs up for Claude to use it through Siri, the company will get a cut.
The big loser here is OpenAI. While it’ll still be an option in the Apple ecosystem via Extensions, it’ll lose its current status as the only third-party model that plays nice with Apple Intelligence. It’s also losing out on what once seemed like a sure-thing exclusive as the backbone of Apple’s AI offerings. The company got in early with Apple and seemed destined to lock up the iOS ecosystem and, at the very least, have a deal similar to the one Apple ultimately entered with Google. Now it’s on its way to just being another AI model in the crowd.
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