Apple Plans AI-Powered Web Search Tool to Challenge OpenAI and Perplexity
Apple Inc. is preparing to make a significant leap into the artificial intelligence space with the development of its own AI-powered web search tool, marking a major move to compete with established players like OpenAI and Perplexity AI Inc. Internally referred to as “World Knowledge Answers,” the new system is expected to debut in 2026, starting with a deep integration into Siri, Apple’s digital assistant.
This new project reflects Apple’s growing urgency to regain its footing in the rapidly advancing world of generative AI—an area where it has trailed behind rivals in recent years.
Reinventing Siri: From Voice Assistant to AI Answer Engine
Apple’s reimagined Siri will no longer be limited to setting timers or answering trivia. Instead, the company is working to turn it into a full-fledged “answer engine”—a system capable of intelligently retrieving, summarizing, and presenting information from across the internet.
The plan is to embed this new AI tool directly into the Siri interface and, over time, into Safari and Spotlight Search, both of which are core to the iPhone and Mac experience. According to insiders, Apple is aiming for a spring 2026 launch, possibly as part of the iOS 26.4 update, currently codenamed Luck E.
This upgrade will empower Siri to handle more complex and open-ended questions, similar to capabilities seen in ChatGPT, Google’s AI Overviews, and new AI-powered apps. Backed by large language models (LLMs), Siri’s evolution represents a significant leap forward for a feature that once pioneered the smart assistant space but has since struggled to keep pace with competitors.
Notably, Apple is not going at this alone. In a strategic move, the company recently entered an agreement with Google to test one of its advanced Gemini models, possibly using it to power parts of Siri’s back-end AI functionality. The partnership could give Apple a strong starting point in AI while it continues developing its own in-house technologies.
A Visual, Multi-Modal Search Experience
Sources close to the project say that Apple’s upcoming search tool won’t just rely on text. The interface is being designed to include photos, videos, and location-based content, along with AI-generated summaries of search results. The goal is to offer more visually rich and instantly digestible answers than what Siri currently provides.
Users could ask Siri to summarize a trending topic, explore nearby attractions, or even break down complex documents—and receive an answer that pulls from across media formats and contexts.
This marks a stark contrast to Siri’s present limitations, which often require redirecting users to web results via Google or even OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The new vision is to make Apple’s operating systems a self-contained space for intelligent web discovery—private, fast, and deeply integrated.
Apple is especially emphasizing data privacy, ensuring that searches of personal content (like photos, messages, and documents) will continue to be handled exclusively by its in-house models. This balance of privacy and AI power will likely be central to Apple’s marketing strategy for the updated Siri experience.
Strategic Shifts, AI Partners, and Internal Overhauls
Internally, the Siri overhaul is being driven by several key teams:
- Craig Federighi, head of software engineering, is overseeing the broader Siri and AI search redesign.
- John Giannandrea, SVP of Machine Learning and AI Strategy, is managing the technology behind it.
- Mike Rockwell, best known for leading the Vision Pro team, is also playing a leadership role in search innovation.
The new Siri is built on three foundational AI components:
- Planner – interprets voice or text inputs and decides what action to take.
- Search Engine – scours the internet or user’s device data for answers.
- Summarizer – generates a concise, clear response.
This modular approach gives Apple the flexibility to mix and match technologies. In fact, Apple is currently evaluating whether to use third-party AI models—like Google Gemini or Anthropic’s Claude—for the planner and summarizer components. While Google’s model has gained favor due to cost advantages, Claude reportedly outperformed it in earlier tests. However, Anthropic’s steep pricing—rumored at over $1.5 billion per year—made Google a more appealing partner.
Despite leaning on external AI, Apple plans to keep sensitive user data processed exclusively on its own infrastructure via Apple Foundation Models, further separating it from privacy practices of rivals.
Competitive Tensions, Talent Losses, and Future Directions
The launch of World Knowledge Answers is also part of Apple’s broader effort to assert itself in the AI race—especially after missing the early wave of generative AI hype. Though the company continues to earn around $20 billion annually from its agreement to make Google the default search engine on iOS, that arrangement is now under greater regulatory and competitive scrutiny.
In a courtroom testimony earlier this year, Apple’s services chief Eddy Cue admitted that the number of Google search queries originating from Apple devices had declined for the first time in two decades—an indication that users are already shifting toward AI-based alternatives.
Interestingly, Apple had previously explored acquiring Perplexity AI and even Mistral, a French AI startup. While those deals haven’t materialized, they show Apple’s aggressive search for talent and strategic technology. Instead of buying Perplexity, Apple has decided to go head-to-head with the startup using its internally developed system.
However, Apple is also facing internal challenges. The team behind its AI models has seen a wave of attrition in recent months. Ruoming Pang, the head of the Apple Foundation Models team, left for Meta Platforms Inc. in a deal reportedly worth over $200 million. Since his departure, nearly a dozen team members have followed him, while others have moved to OpenAI and Anthropic.
To offset this talent drain, Apple has ramped up recruiting for a new group called Answers, Knowledge, and Information (AKI)—a team that will contribute directly to its AI search ambitions.
Meanwhile, the company is exploring additional applications of AI beyond Siri. Future plans include:
- A visual redesign of Siri for 2026,
- A health-focused AI agent powering a new wellness subscription service,
- Enhanced voice control for navigating devices,
- And AI capabilities in smart home products.
Still, the full rollout of these features will take time. When Apple announces its iPhone 17 lineup next week, the new AI features are not expected to be front and center. Instead, the company is focused on laying the groundwork for a more ambitious, AI-driven experience in the year ahead.
