“It again goes to my view that Apple is not too late in its AI strategy. It’s just that AI is growing up at the right scale for its global platform to benefit from ‘win-win’ partnerships in this AI Tech Wave. And make history rhyme again. Far beyond the AI Chatbots of today.”
“Apple Inc. plans to open Siri to outside artificial intelligence assistants as part of a Siri overhaul in its upcoming iOS 27 operating system update.”
“The company is developing new tools to allow AI chatbot apps installed via the App Store to integrate with the Siri assistant, enabling users to send queries to services like Google Gemini or Anthropic PBC’s Claude.”
“The change is part of an attempt to turn around Apple’s fortunes in artificial intelligence, where it has lagged behind Silicon Valley peers, and could allow Apple to generate more money from third-party AI subscriptions through the App Store.”
“Apple Inc. plans to open Siri to outside artificial intelligence assistants, a major move aimed at bolstering the iPhone as an AI platform.”
“The company is preparing to make the change as part of a Siri overhaul in its upcoming iOS 27 operating system update, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The assistant can already tap into ChatGPT through a partnership with OpenAI, but Apple will now allow competing services to do the same.”
And of course offer the same, beyond the iPhone to other Apple platforms.
The piece goes onto frame the move as a defensive AI move. In my view it’s quite the opposite. It’s an offensive move, and a flex of Apple’s real AI opportunities in the mainstream AI chase by LLM AI companies ahead.
“The changes are part of an attempt to turn around Apple’s fortunes in artificial intelligence, where it has lagged behind Silicon Valley peers. Revamping Siri, first launched nearly 15 years ago, is central to the comeback plan.”
“The company is developing new tools to allow AI chatbot apps installed via the App Store to integrate with the Siri assistant, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans haven’t been announced. The chatbots will also work with an upcoming Siri app and other features in the Apple Intelligence platform.”
“That means, for instance, if users have Alphabet Inc.’s Google Gemini or Anthropic PBC’s Claude installed, they’d be able to send queries to those services from within the Siri voice assistant, just like they have been able to with ChatGPT since Apple Intelligence launched in 2024.”
And of course, it’s a higher margin earnings opportunity for Apple AT SCALE.
“The approach also should allow Apple to generate more money from third-party AI subscriptions through the App Store.”
“The change is separate from Apple’s work with Google to rebuild Siri using Gemini models. That arrangement is related to the underlying Apple technology for Siri. The new so-called Extensions system, meanwhile, would allow users to process requests via the actual Gemini service — assuming Google enables its app to do so.”
“The Cupertino, California-based company is planning to announce its latest software on June 8 at its Worldwide Developers Conference, and the features could still change before then or get delayed. On its website, the iPhone maker is promising details on “AI advancements” at the event.”
And it’ll all work seamlesslyy across Apple hardware/software platforms worldwide:
“The Extensions system in testing will let users enable or disable which services they want to work inside Siri via a menu in the iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and macOS 27 settings panel for Apple Intelligence and Siri.”
“Extensions allow agents from installed apps to work with Siri, the Siri app and other features on your devices,” according to a message inside test versions of the upcoming operating systems. Users will be directed to a new App Store section from this menu to add additional AI services.”
And a demotion for the previous Apple/OpenAI deal:
“The move would jettison the exclusive role of ChatGPT within Apple software. From the outset, there was internal debate over whether OpenAI was the right partner, with former Apple AI chief John Giannandrea questioning the startup’s staying power and favoring a Google deal.”
Now, a different approach altogether, all orchestrated well by CEO Tim Cook:
“The new strategy would eliminate the need for one-off integration deals like the ChatGPT one. That means the company can add multiple external AI services more quickly and potentially expand the use of AI across its operating systems without entering business discussions.”
“Today, users can route Siri queries to ChatGPT by explicitly requesting the OpenAI service. Under the new system, people would instead specify which AI service to use for each query.”
“Other major AI platforms are available as apps on Apple’s platforms, including Perplexity, Amazon.com Inc.’s Alexa, Meta Platforms Inc.’s Meta AI, xAI’s Grok and Microsoft Corp.’s Copilot. It’s unclear if Apple will allow any AI app to be added to Siri or if there will be a specific approval process.”
But now there’ll be a distribution opportunity with financial benefits:
“Under the new approach, Apple could expand its services revenue by taking a slice of paid subscriptions from the competing AI services it will be touting on its devices. Apple makes money from the current ChatGPT service by offering up its payment system when customers are signing up for higher-end tiers.”
Apple coming out of the AI shadows indeed.
The whole piece is worth a closer read for additional details.
The Implicator explicitly outlines the distribution flex at Apple’s disposal for the world’s leading AI services:
“Rather than negotiating one-off integration deals like the exclusive ChatGPT arrangement from 2024, Apple is building an API. Any chatbot app in the App Store can reportedly plug in.”
“Every dollar OpenAI or Google or Anthropic pours into better models, Apple skims a cut off the subscriptions those models sell. Zero R&D cost. No model training. No data center buildout. Apple reportedly spent a fraction of what its major competitors poured into AI development last year. That’s not a weakness anyone should pity. It’s the strategy.”
The strategy has delivered billions for Apple over the years in terms of high margin services revenues:
“If you’ve watched Apple’s services business over the past decade, this pattern should feel familiar. Apple didn’t build the best music streaming service. It built the platform that every streaming service had to pass through. It didn’t build the best games. It took a cut of everything else. The Extensions system applies the same logic to AI, and the industry’s emboldened spending on model quality only makes the toll booth more profitable.”
Of course, there’s the issue of the toll in AI services, a new prospect for newly minted AI models and agents:
“The obvious question: why would OpenAI, Google, or Anthropic accept a 30% haircut for Siri integration?
“Because being invisible on a billion phones is worse.”
It’s actually over two and half billion Apple devices globally including computers, tablets, smartphones, wearables and more.
“Apple sits on roughly 1.2 billion active iPhone users. You can build the most capable AI model in existence, but if it lives in a standalone app that users have to deliberately download and open, you’re fighting for attention against the thing they press the side button for. Siri handles that interaction. Extensions mean your chatbot runs inside it, at the moment when user intent is already formed.”
“That’s distribution no AI company can build on its own.”
Overall, the Bigger Picture at this fourth year post OpenAI/s ChatGPT is that Apple is finally getting ready to leverage this AI Tech Wave to its benefit. Despite all the hand-wringing to date that they’ve been ‘late’ to the AI party. Stay tuned.
(Additional Reading: Here are some earlier pieces by Bloomberg on Apple, Siri and AI strategies—
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