Apple is charting a new course in the artificial intelligence landscape, preparing to launch a sophisticated AI-driven search tool powered in part by Google's Gemini model. This strategic move aims to fundamentally overhaul its long-standing virtual assistant, Siri, transforming it into a more formidable "answer engine." The initiative, internally known as World Knowledge Answers, signals Apple's aggressive push to compete with AI-native search platforms like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Perplexity AI. While Apple had previously engaged in discussions with Perplexity, the company is now moving forward with a plan that leverages a partnership with its long-time search partner, Google, effectively sidelining the AI startup from its immediate plans.

The core of Apple's new strategy is a significant revamp of Siri, an initiative that has been long-delayed but is now slated for a potential release in the spring of 2026.[1][2] This upgraded Siri will be engineered to handle far more complex queries than its current iteration, which often defaults to providing a list of web links for general knowledge questions.[1] The new system is designed to deliver direct, comprehensive summaries that integrate text, images, videos, and localized results, offering a richer and more immediate user experience.[3] To achieve this, Apple is adopting a hybrid AI approach. For tasks involving personal user data and on-device actions, Apple will rely on its own proprietary Apple Foundation Models, ensuring user privacy remains a cornerstone of its ecosystem.[1][4] However, for broader web-based queries requiring vast, up-to-the-minute information, Apple has reached a formal agreement to test and evaluate a custom-built version of Google's Gemini AI model.[5][1] This model would run on Apple's Private Cloud Compute servers, a setup designed to balance the power of a large-scale AI with Apple's stringent privacy commitments.[5][1]

The decision to collaborate with Google over acquiring a company like Perplexity AI reflects a significant strategic calculation by Apple. Reports indicate that Apple executives, including head of mergers and acquisitions Adrian Perica and services chief Eddy Cue, had held internal discussions and met with Perplexity to evaluate its technology.[6][7] An acquisition of Perplexity, valued at around $14 billion, would have represented Apple's largest purchase in its history, dwarfing the $3 billion acquisition of Beats in 2014.[7][8] However, Apple is reportedly no longer actively pursuing a bid for the AI search startup.[1] Instead, its own "World Knowledge Answers" tool will directly compete with Perplexity's offering.[1] The strengthening of the Apple-Google alliance appears to be a key factor. A recent court ruling that allows Apple to maintain its multi-billion dollar arrangement making Google the default search engine on its devices has likely made collaboration a more attractive and stable path forward.[5] This allows Apple to leverage a proven, powerful large language model without the complexities and costs of a massive acquisition, while still advancing its own AI capabilities.

The implications of this deepened partnership between two of the world's most influential technology companies are vast for the AI and search industries. For Google, securing a role in Apple's new AI-powered Siri provides a crucial foothold within the Apple ecosystem beyond its traditional search deal, which faces continuous antitrust scrutiny.[9] It ensures that its Gemini models will be central to how billions of queries are processed on iPhones, reinforcing its dominance in the AI space. For Apple, this collaboration is a pragmatic acceleration of its AI ambitions. After facing criticism that Siri has fallen behind competitors like Amazon's Alexa and Google Assistant, leveraging Gemini allows Apple to leapfrog development hurdles and quickly integrate advanced generative AI features.[10][9] This strategic move also positions Apple to redefine the user experience on its devices, making Siri a primary destination for information rather than a mere conduit to a web browser.[11] The development puts increased pressure on other AI players, including OpenAI and startups like Perplexity, as the two giants of mobile technology align their efforts to shape the future of AI-powered information access.