Developer proposes Apple let users choose AI assistants beyond Siri

Is Apple going the way of Burger King in assuring patrons they can have it their way?

Apple‘s current Siri capabilities lag significantly behind modern AI chatbot technology, creating a growing competitive disadvantage as users experience more advanced alternatives. Developer Gus Mueller’s suggestion that Apple allow users to choose their own AI assistant represents a pragmatic solution that could benefit both consumers and Apple itself, potentially transforming how voice assistants integrate with Apple’s ecosystem while addressing long-standing complaints about Siri’s limitations.

The big picture: Siri has fallen dramatically behind competing AI technologies, with Apple facing criticism for advertising features that don’t exist and displaying internal disarray over its voice assistant strategy.

• Long-time Apple commentator John Gruber has characterized the situation as a “crisis” for the company, highlighting the significant gap between Siri and modern generative AI capabilities.
• The lack of meaningful progress with Siri has been a persistent issue for approximately a decade, becoming increasingly problematic as alternatives demonstrate far superior capabilities.

A proposed solution: Developer Gus Mueller suggests Apple could allow users to select from various third-party AI models rather than being limited to Siri alone.

• This approach would utilize APIs to connect Apple devices with alternative large language models (LLMs) from providers like ChatGPT, Gemini, Meta, or DeepSeek.
• Users could potentially choose from popular AI models including ChatGPT, Llama, Claude, Gemini, and DeepSeek, dramatically expanding assistant capabilities.

Why this matters: Opening Apple’s ecosystem to third-party AI assistants could create multiple strategic advantages for both users and Apple itself.

• Users would gain immediate access to more capable AI assistants rather than waiting indefinitely for Apple to improve Siri.
• Apple would reduce development pressure on its internal teams while simultaneously gathering valuable data about user preferences and chatbot requests.
• The company could implement granular privacy controls to maintain its privacy-focused brand positioning while embracing external AI capabilities.