Apple's U-turn: it may replace its AI in Siri with models from OpenAI or Anthropic

Apple may abandon the development of its own AI models for Siri and switch to OpenAI or Anthropic technologies to turn the tide of failure in the generative artificial intelligence race, Bloomberg wrote. If such a decision is made, it would be a recognition of the company's technological lag, but also a turning point for the company. Apple shares rose 3% after the Bloomberg piece was published.

Apple is considering using artificial intelligence technology from Anthropic or OpenAI in the new version of Siri, pushing aside its own models, sources told Bloomberg. According to them, the company is already in talks with both startups and has asked them to prepare custom versions of chatbots Claude and ChatGPT for testing that could run on its cloud infrastructure. Placing the AI models on Apple's own servers will, in its opinion, provide better privacy protection, Bloomberg writes.

If Apple does make such a move, it would be a major reversal of strategy, the agency notes. Right now, most of the company's AI features are powered by its own technology, and the original plan was to have a new version of Siri based on those models in 2026. Switching to Anthropic's Claude or OpenAI's ChatGPT would be an admission that the gadget maker isn't keeping up with the competition in generative AI. Siri can already turn to ChatGPT to search for information on the Internet, but for now it's running on Apple's internal technologies.

According to Bloomberg's sources, the study of third-party models is at an early stage, and a final decision on cooperation has not yet been made. The company is still developing the LLM Siri project, which uses its own AI. But management has become more open to the idea of using "alien", the agency points out. Partnering with external companies could be the key to a short-term breakthrough - that's how Bloomberg describes the internal mood at Apple.

Representatives of all three companies declined to comment to the agency.

Apple shares jumped 3% after Bloomberg's publication, but were still up only 2% by the end of the trading session. The company's value is down 18% this year.

The evaluation of third-party models was launched by Siri head Mike Rockwell and head of software development Craig Federighi, Bloomberg points out and explains: they gained control of the project after these duties were taken away from the head of AI direction John Giannandrea. He was removed after a subdued market reaction to the launch of Apple Intelligence and delays in Siri features.

Apple's voice assistant has lagged behind popular chatbots, and the company's attempts to update it face technical challenges. A year ago, it unveiled new Siri features, including access to users' personal data, on-screen content analysis, and features to more accurately control apps and gadget functions. But all these improvements were far from ready. Originally slated for release in early 2025, it was later delayed.

During Apple's most recent developer conference in early June, the company again showed nothing to rid itself of its status as a laggard in the AI race, Wall Street analysts assessed. "No matter how many autosuggestions of text and funny emoji you add, they won't fill the gaping void where the intuitive, interactive AI system Siri should be capable of," declared then Dipanjan Chatterjee of Forrester Research.  

According to Bloomberg, Apple was also considering buying one of the largest artificial intelligence startups, Perplexity AI, to strengthen its AI development, and was also in talks with Thinking Machines Lab, a startup founded by former OpenAI CTO Mira Muratti.

If the Perplexity AI acquisition does go through, Apple will be able to solve a number of key problems, a Bank of America analyst wrote last week. For example, the company would provide quick access to a voice assistant and insurance against reliance on Google as its default search engine, and its stock would get a new boost in growth.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor