Apple building a ChatGPT rival to improve iPhone's AI ahead of iPhone 17 launch

Apple is reportedly building its own artificial intelligence-powered chatbot, internally referred to as an “Answer Engine,” as the company looks to challenge services like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. According to a Bloomberg report, the tech giant has quietly assembled a new internal team called “Answers, Knowledge and Information” (AKI) to spearhead this initiative and rethink how users interact with search across Apple devices.

The AKI team is being led by Robby Walker, a former Siri executive and now a senior director under Apple’s broader AI division, reporting directly to AI chief John Giannandrea. The primary goal of this group is to develop a stripped-down AI chatbot that can deliver a conversational, knowledge-driven search experience, a feature Apple has long lacked, especially compared to rivals in the generative AI space.

Apple's renewed focus on native AI tools comes at a time when the limitations of its recently announced Apple Intelligence platform have become increasingly apparent. While Apple Intelligence brings features like Genmoji and smart summaries to iOS, it still leans on external partners like OpenAI to power more advanced interactions via Siri. A true in-house alternative could help Apple close this gap, blending Siri’s contextual understanding with generative AI’s conversational prowess.

The proposed Answer Engine is still in early development, but it’s said to be capable of crawling the web and generating responses to general-knowledge queries. Apple is exploring the possibility of launching it as a standalone app or integrating it more deeply into Siri, Safari, and Spotlight in future iOS versions. Several job listings on Apple’s careers page now specifically seek talent with experience in search algorithms and engine development, a signal that the project is ramping up.

Interestingly, this strategic shift arrives despite past scepticism from Apple’s top brass, who had previously downplayed the utility of chatbot-style AI. The change in tone may reflect growing pressure to keep pace with generative AI leaders and respond to the lukewarm reception of Apple Intelligence, especially after delays in delivering the long-promised Siri overhaul.

Meanwhile, it seems like Apple has already begun real-world testing of its next flagship, the iPhone 17 Pro, with prototype units spotted in San Francisco disguised in camouflaged cases. This indicates that hardware development remains on track for the company’s next major product cycle, one that could eventually showcase the AKI chatbot as a core feature.

If successful, the AKI-led Answer Engine could mark a turning point for Apple’s AI strategy, not only addressing Siri’s long-standing weaknesses, but also redefining how search works across the Apple ecosystem.