The tech company values the integration of advanced artificial intelligence models to overcome the limitations of its assistant and compete with Google, Amazon, and Microsoft.
Apple aims to reinvent Siri. After years of stagnation and criticism for its limited conversational ability, the Cupertino company is in negotiations with two of the most relevant players in the artificial intelligence ecosystem: OpenAI (creators of ChatGPT) and Anthropic (developers of the Claude model).
The goal: to boost a new generation of Siri with truly advanced capabilities, allowing it to engage in complex conversations, understand context, and provide useful and personalized responses. Something that has, until now, been beyond the reach of Apple’s assistant.
The bet on large language models (LLMs)
According to Bloomberg, Apple is conducting technical tests with models from both companies, evaluating their performance, scalability, and security. In particular, it seeks to ensure they can operate within its Private Cloud Compute environment, a system designed to process data privately and securely, adhering to the confidentiality principles that Apple promotes as part of its brand.
Although the process is still in the analysis phase, initial tests indicate that Anthropic’s models may better meet Apple’s requirements, which has intensified the negotiations. However, the agreement could face financial hurdles: Anthropic is reportedly demanding a multimillion-dollar contract, in line with the rising costs of developing and operating generative AI models.
Apple doesn’t want to fall behind
While Google and Microsoft are making giant strides with their AI-powered assistants—Gemini and Copilot, respectively—Apple has taken a more conservative approach. Its Apple Intelligence platform, introduced this year, promised to roll out AI-based features across its ecosystem. However, it turns out that the most significant enhancements, including a new version of Siri, won’t arrive until 2026, which has disappointed users and analysts alike.
In this context, a partnership with OpenAI or Anthropic would allow Apple to accelerate the deployment of intelligent features, reducing reliance on an in-house model that has yet to reach sufficient maturity.
Will iOS 26 bring a revolution?
Everything points to Apple wanting the new version of Siri ready for iOS 26, the operating system update scheduled for next year. If the negotiations succeed, users could experience a significant leap in the quality of interaction with their assistant: Siri would transition from a limited tool to a true intelligent co-pilot.
This would include, among other capabilities, natural language understanding, contextual responses, logical reasoning, and the execution of complex tasks through simple commands, even in multi-turn conversations.
A strategic move in the AI battle
Beyond Siri, this endeavor represents a key step in the global race for dominance in consumer-applied artificial intelligence. Apple knows that merely promising is not enough. It must deliver concrete features that match what users of ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude are already enjoying. For now, that involves integrating external models while its own mature.
In an industry marked by alliances and multimillion-dollar investments (like Microsoft’s with OpenAI or Amazon’s with Anthropic), Apple now faces the challenge of forging a strategic agreement without compromising its identity rooted in privacy, control, and user experience.
The race to redefine virtual assistants has begun. And Apple does not want to be left behind.
via: AI News