Apple's Rebuilt 'Siri AI' Leans on Google Gemini to Close Its AI Gap

A two-year wait ends with a Gemini-powered assistant

Apple used its final Worldwide Developers Conference under chief executive Tim Cook to unveil "Siri AI," a ground-up rebuild of its voice assistant that the company says is dramatically more conversational, can draw on a user's personal context across Messages, Mail and Photos, and ships with a dedicated standalone app.apple The overhaul, previewed June 8 at Apple Park, will reach developers immediately and arrive as a public beta later this year on iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27 and visionOS 27.apple It is the centerpiece of an AI push that Apple first promised in 2024 and then repeatedly delayed, leaving it visibly behind rivals.theguardian

Apple admits it has been racing to catch up

The new Siri is rebuilt with generative AI at its core and powered by Google's Gemini models through a billion-dollar partnership between the two companies.theguardian In a demo, Apple executives showed Siri identifying a beach from a photo, pulling a friend's address from the user's apps and stitching together driving directions — all inside the assistant rather than by bouncing between apps.theguardian The keynote structure itself was an admission: Apple led with fixes to search, file-sharing and design before features, framing a better Siri as one item on a long repair list rather than a triumphant reveal.techcrunch

Apple was emphatic about privacy, with software chief Craig Federighi declaring that "privacy in AI is non-negotiable" and taking a swipe at competitors "seemingly pursuing AI for the sake of AI."techcrunch +1 The company also settled a $250 million class-action lawsuit in May over previously advertised Siri features it never shipped.theguardian

A quiet break-up with ChatGPT, and a wall in Europe

The upgrade marks a strategic pivot away from OpenAI, Apple's 2024 AI partner. The Verge's Nilay Patel argues the new Siri is essentially a replacement for the free tier of ChatGPT, "Sherlocking" the chatbot by putting comparable answers a button-press away — though it is not built to rival paid, agentic tools from OpenAI or Google.businessinsider

Not everyone will get it on schedule. Apple said Siri AI will not launch initially in the European Union on iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, blaming the Digital Markets Act's interoperability rules, which it says would force it to grant outside AI assistants near-unlimited access to a user's device.nytimes EU regulators reject that framing, and the features are also being held back in China pending regulatory clearance.nytimes For roughly 450 million Europeans, the wait for a smarter Siri continues.nytimes