Apple readies more conversational Siri in bid to catch up in AI

Apple is racing to develop a more conversational version of its Siri digital assistant, aiming to catch up with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and other voice services, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The new Siri, details of which have not been reported, uses more advanced large language models, or LLMs, to allow for back-and-forth conversations, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the effort has not been announced. The system also can handle more sophisticated requests in a quicker fashion, they said.

Revamping the 13-year-old Siri service is part of Apple’s efforts to become a force in artificial intelligence. The company debuted its much-ballyhooed Apple Intelligence platform last month, but it still lacks many of the features offered by other tech giants.

The new voice assistant, which will eventually be added to Apple Intelligence, is dubbed “LLM Siri” by those working on it. LLMs – a building block of generative AI – gorge on massive amounts of data to identify patterns and answer questions.

Apple has been testing the upgraded software on iPhones, iPads and Macs as a separate app, but the technology will ultimately replace the Siri interface that users rely on today. The company is planning to announce the overhaul as soon as 2025 as part of the upcoming iOS 19 and macOS 16 software updates, which are internally named Luck and Cheer, the people said.

Like Apple Intelligence this fall, the new features will not immediately be included in next year’s crop of hardware devices. Instead, Apple is currently planning to release the new Siri to consumers as early as spring 2026, about a year and a half from now. Given that Apple is still several months away from announcing the plan, the timing and features could still shift.