Apple execs claim internal AI chatbot matches ChatGPT. We’ll see.

Apple is racing to evolve Siri into a competitive AI chatbot, with internal testing indicating substantial progress in recent months. According to Bloomberg, Apple executives now believe their in-house chatbot technology is “on par with recent versions of ChatGPT” following significant advancements over the past six months. This represents a strategic shift from earlier skepticism about chatbot value expressed by AI chief John Giannandrea, and highlights the intensifying competition in consumer-facing generative AI as Apple works to prevent falling further behind rivals.

The big picture: Apple executives are now actively pushing to transform Siri into a ChatGPT competitor despite earlier hesitation from the company’s AI leadership.

• The company is exploring giving Siri the ability to access and synthesize information from across the open web, similar to capabilities in competing AI assistants.
• Internal testing suggests Apple has made substantial progress in closing the gap with leading AI chatbots over a relatively short development period.

Key details: Apple’s AI chief John Giannandrea was initially reluctant about transforming Siri into a ChatGPT-style assistant.

• Giannandrea reportedly questioned the practical value of such chatbot tools earlier in their development.
• The company’s perspective has evolved as competitors continue launching new features and capabilities in their respective AI platforms.

Why this matters: Despite apparent internal progress, Apple hasn’t publicly released any LLM-powered version of Siri or chatbot features based on its own models.

• The company risks falling further behind competitors who continue shipping new AI models and features to users.
• Apple is not expected to announce major Siri updates at next month’s WWDC developer conference.

Where we go from here: Apple’s “LLM Siri” platform could debut later in the iOS 19 cycle rather than at its initial release.

• The timing suggests Apple is taking a measured approach to ensure its AI features meet the company’s standards before public release.
• How quickly Apple can deploy these capabilities to consumers remains a critical question as the AI assistant landscape continues evolving rapidly.