Apple is eyeing a ChatGPT-like search, but it must focus beyond Siri

Digital Trends

2 days ago

It's no secret that Apple is currently struggling to deliver a smash-hit AI product, the way Google has served with Gemini, or Microsoft has achieved with Copilot. The company has been trying a similar overhaul with Siri, but those plans have been beset by delays, and it is only expected to see the light of day in late 2026.
The delay spooked Apple to such an extent that the company inked a stopgap deal with OpenAI, which helped integrate ChatGPT with Siri, and broadly, with the Apple Intelligence stack. But it seems Apple is working on a radical in-house solution, one that would essentially be a watered-down approach to ChatGPT, but with internet search capabilities.
Siri, but flavored like ChatGPT Lite?
According to Bloomberg, a newly formed Answers, Knowledge and Information (AKI) team at Apple is working on a ChatGPT-inspired search framework for Siri. 'While still in early stages, the team is building what it calls an 'answer engine' — a system capable of crawling the web to respond to general-knowledge questions,' says the report.
In addition to Siri, Apple reportedly plans to integrate the search functionality within Spotlight and Safari, as well. Spotlight has already received a massive functional upgrade in macOS Tahoe, so it won't be surprising to see it evolve into a universal answering hotspot, one that covers local data and information sourced from the internet.
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It may sound chaotic at first, but it's not entirely alien. How does Siri, Spotlight, or Safari know when I want an AI to answer my query, or launch a web Search? Well, look no further than Dia. The universal search box in the AI-focused browser dynamically switches between 'chat' and 'Google' mode as you type your search keywords.
When you type 'Birkin bag' in the text field, it defaults to web search mode. But as you type 'where to buy a Birkin bag,' the search field automatically switches to chat mode and offers the answer, just the way ChatGPT or any other AI answering engine like Perplexity would handle your questions.
Right now, when you summon Siri on your iPhone and ask it a question that requires searching the internet or just pulling knowledge from an information bank, it opens a prompt box asking whether the question can be offloaded to ChatGPT. Once you agree, ChatGPT kicks into action and offers the required information.
Of course, it's not seamless. With Siri gaining web search capabilities and enhanced natural language comprehension (akin to a ChatGPT or Gemini), it would be much easier for users to simply ask anything they want and get it answered. In its current state, Siri feels like a relic of the past, especially when compared to products such as Google's Gemini Live or ChatGPT's voice mode.
In fact, Gemini works better on iPhones than Siri. As far as Apple's plans go, building something as advanced as ChatGPT or Gemini seems like a far-fetched goal. As per Bloomberg, plans for 'LLM Siri' have kept running into delays, and the recent exodus of top AI talent casts more doubts over Apple's ambitions of reimagining Siri for the AI era.
It's not just about a phone assistant
Building a next-gen virtual assistant – just the way Google Assistant has evolved into Gemini, or Copilot at Microsoft – is not the only area where Apple is currently lagging far behind the competition. In fact, Big Tech is now as focused as much on chatbots as it is on web browsers. Agentic workflows are now being seen as the next big thing in the field of AI.
In a recent interview, co-founder and chief of Perplexity, Aravind Srinivas, explained why browsers are more suitable for AI than AI chatbots and apps:
'You get full transparency and visibility, and you can just stop the agent when you feel like it's going off the rails and just complete the task yourself, and you can also have the agent ask for your permission to do anything. So that level of control, transparency, trust in an environment that we are used to for multiple decades, which is the browser.'
Unfortunately, Apple is severely lagging behind in the browser wars. With the introduction of AI Mode in Search and deeply integrating Gemini across its Workspace ecosystem, Google has changed how deeply AI can change web browsing and web-based workflows.
Safari desperately needs an AI overhaul
Upstart browsers such as Dia and Perplexity's Comet have proved that the era of legacy tools such as extensions is coming to an end. Soon, skills and custom agents will take over. Less than a week ago, Microsoft introduced Copilot Mode in Edge. I have spent a few days with the new AI-powered tools in Edge, and I believe it's a bold (and dramatically more practical) new direction for web browsers.
In comparison, Safari misses out on any such AI-driven experiences. From a context-aware sidebar to multi-tab contextual actions, Apple's browser is sorely missing out on the conveniences that AI is bringing to modern age web browsers. Assuming Apple succeeds at building its own ChatGPT-like answer engine, it would take a massive undertaking to build meaningful features around it in Safari.
Right now, what Apple needs to do is not just build an answering engine, but pay close attention to the competition. I am sure Apple is monitoring the shifting landscape of AI agents and browsers. It simply has to pick up pace, or as CEO Tim Cook hinted at in a recent all-hands meeting, the company 'will make the investment to do it.'
Will Apple acquire a hot AI lab like Perplexity or Anthropic? Only time will tell, but the company certainly has to take a more holistic approach with AI than just focus on building the next great AI chatbot.