Apple said Monday that it was overhauling its longtime virtual assistant, Siri, by adding artificial intelligence features and changing its name to Siri AI.
The iPhone maker announced the changes at its annual technology meeting, the Worldwide Developers Conference. Company executives demonstrated using the virtual assistant for various everyday tasks, such as looking up the date of a concert, shopping for a backpack or planning a soccer watch party.
It appeared to be the biggest revamp of Siri since Apple bought the voice-enabled assistant in 2010 and integrated it into its devices the following year, and it puts Siri into more direct competition with modern AI assistants such as ChatGPT.
Mike Rockwell, Apple’s vice president in charge of Siri engineering, said in a keynote video that Siri AI would draw on a wide array of information sources — including data inside the device and the open web — to answer questions and accomplish tasks.
“Siri is now a profoundly more capable assistant that helps you find what you need and gets more done,” he said.
Apple’s deeper dive into AI chatbots is happening despite some signs of consumer dissatisfaction with how quickly other tech companies have integrated AI into their products and services. Microsoft last month retreated from adding AI features to its Xbox systems, while surveys show little enthusiasm for putting more AI into apps or devices.
But consumers are also downloading AI chatbots in huge numbers. On Monday, three of the top six apps in the Apple app marketplace were chatbot apps: OpenAI’s ChatGPT at No. 1, Anthropic’s Claude at No. 5 and Google Gemini at No. 6. Another one, Meta AI, was No. 19.
In the case of Google, Apple’s Siri AI is both a competitor and a partner. Apple said in January that it had forged an AI partnership with Google and would use Gemini to help power the new version of Siri.
Apple has been relatively slow to adopt AI features, even as other tech companies have raced ahead. In 2024, two years after the release of ChatGPT, Apple released an integration with ChatGPT, allowing iPhone users to get responses from the chatbot within a Siri conversation.
But the relationship between OpenAI and Apple has become strained, with the ChatGPT creator believing that the integration failed to meet expectations and considering legal action, Bloomberg reported last month.
Apple executives on Monday emphasized what they said were some advantages for Siri AI: It can look up information from across the device — for example, by searching photos or text messages — and it can create reminders and calendar events with potentially fewer steps than a third-party AI assistant.
“Because it’s built right into the keyboard, you can use it across the system, whether you’re texting the group chat while you’re on the subway or thinking out loud while using your journaling app,” Rockwell said.
A company website laid out other potential use cases, including asking Siri AI for sightseeing tips, seeking advice about running-related stretches and brainstorming nicknames for a porcupine.
Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, said that Siri AI would be available later this year on iPhones, iPads and Macs, initially in English only and then expanding to other languages.
He said Siri AI would not be available initially in the European Union or in China “while we work through regulatory requirements.”
