Apple is developing its own artificial intelligence-powered web search tool that could launch next year, reports Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, citing people familiar with the matter.
The system, known internally as World Knowledge Answers, is expected to debut in the spring as part of a major Siri overhaul. Described by some Apple executives as an “answer engine,” the tool is designed to let Siri pull information from across the internet, offering results in text, images, video and even local points of interest. An AI-powered summary feature is also planned to make answers easier to soak up.
According to Gurman, Apple recently reached an agreement with Google to test a version of its Gemini AI model to help power Siri. While Anthropic’s Claude was also considered, Apple leaned toward Google after cost concerns. Anthropic reportedly wanted $1.5 billion per year from Apple to use its AI model.
For now, Apple plans to keep its own Foundation Models for searching user data in order to protect privacy.
The project is being overseen by Apple’s software chief Craig Federighi, who told employees in a recent meeting: “The work we’ve done on this end-to-end revamp of Siri has given us the results we needed. This has put us in a position to not just deliver what we announced, but to deliver a much bigger upgrade than we envisioned.”
Bloomberg says that several Apple teams are involved, including Siri under Federighi, AI under John Giannandrea, and services under Eddy Cue. Mike Rockwell, creator of the Vision Pro headset, and Robby Walker, a former Siri chief, are also helping lead development.
Apple could eventually expand the search tool beyond Siri into Safari and Spotlight, but the initial rollout is slated for iOS 26.4 in 2026. So keep on waiting folks. Maybe you need an iPhone 17 series upgrade to make the new Siri even sweeter?
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