Apple’s digital assistant, Siri, is set for a major transformation. After last year’s rollout of Apple Intelligence features, the company found itself facing a host of technical setbacks. Bloomberg’s detailed report reveals that Apple is now rethinking its approach by rebuilding Siri from scratch, aiming to infuse it with cutting-edge generative artificial intelligence. The internal project, dubbed ‘LLM Siri,’ hopes to deliver more natural, conversational interactions while synthesising information in a way that truly meets today’s user expectations.
The journey wasn’t straightforward. Apple’s initial attempt to blend new AI features with the existing Siri framework quickly became a series of catch‑up challenges—each fix sparking further complications. With a reluctance to commit substantial investments in AI due to an unclear end game (and even a shortage of vital GPUs), the company lagged behind industry rivals. The spark for change came with the surge of ChatGPT in late 2022, prompting Apple’s AI team to rethink the design. Notably, the former head of AI, John Giannandrea, contended that many users preferred the option to switch off AI chat features, a view that added further complexity to the project.
Now, in a bold pivot, Apple is overhauling Siri’s architecture from the ground up in its Zurich AI division. The new strategy centres on a robust large language model that not only makes Siri more conversational but also better at distilling and presenting information. By using iPhones to process user language locally through differential privacy, only the synthesised insights are sent back to Apple—sharpening the service without compromising user data. There’s even talk of using this upgraded engine as a web search tool, aggregating online data much like similar platforms already do.
If you’ve ever been frustrated by half-baked tech rollouts or sluggish updates, this revamp might just signal a more thoughtful and responsive future for Apple’s AI products. Even though Giannandrea has stepped back from direct involvement, the restructuring promises a sharper, more agile approach in the race against rivals like OpenAI and Google.
