After looking to buy AI startup Perplexity, Apple is now looking to compete with the company with the launch of its own AI-based web search tool next year, according to a report by Bloomberg.
The new tool is reportedly being dubbed internally as “World Knowledge Answers” and is said to be integrated into the Siri voice assistant and eventually also make its way to Safari and Spotlight.
The new service is being described by some executives inside the company as an “answer engine” and is aimed at making Siri and Apple’s operating systems a place where users can look up information from across the internet, similar to the feature provided by ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Mode.
The new feature will reportedly be made available by relying on large language models (LLMs), which could come in part from Google. Interestingly, the Bloomberg report claims that a formal agreement between Google and Apple was reached this week for the iPhone maker to evaluate and test a Google-developed AI model to help power Siri.
The new search experience in Siri is said to include an interface that uses text, photos, videos, and local points of interest. It could also include an AI-powered summarization system in order to make the results more digestible and accurate than the current system.
The Cupertino-based tech giant is reportedly looking to use the same underlying search system for both the World Knowledge feature and the already announced and delayed Siri revamp that can search through a user’s device using natural language.
What is Apple planning for Siri?
Apple is reportedly looking to develop three core components in its quest to rebuild Siri: a planner, a search system for the web and devices, and a summarizer. The planner is said to be aimed at interpreting voice and text inputs and deciding how to respond; the search system will scan the web or the user’s personal data; and the summarizer will pull all of the information into a coherent answer.
Apple is said to be looking to power Siri with third-party AI models with a new project called “Glenwood.” The iPhone maker is leaning towards using a custom-built AI model by Google for the summarizer. This model would run on Apple’s Private Cloud Compute servers, which is also used by the company while routing Siri queries to ChatGPT.
Google is said to have already delivered the technology to Apple, and both companies are now fine-tuning and testing it. The company is also considering using Google models for the planner function as well, but it is still evaluating whether to rely on Anthropic’s model or even its in-house models.
Notably, Apple was reportedly previously considering using Anthropic’s model for its Siri revamp but could not close the deal due to the high price tag demanded by the AI startup. Anthropic reportedly demanded $1.5 billion a year for its tech, while Google was open to more favourable financial terms.
The revamped Siri and search changes are said to be coming with a software update that is being internally called “Luck E” and could correspond to the iOS 26.4 update that may arrive in March next year.
