Apple’s struggles to give Siri an AI-brain transplant and push it into the same league as Gemini and ChatGPT have been ruined by delays and technical challenges. But ahead of the rumored 2026 AI rebirth of Siri, Apple has already created an AI app similar to ChatGPT to test next-gen features for the Siri assistant.
What’s the big shift?
Under the codename Veritas, Apple has reportedly developed an iPhone app that serves as a test-bed for Siri’s upcoming features. The app is similar to AI chatbot apps such as ChatGPT, with a memory feature to recall the context of previous conversations and advanced conversational capabilities.
“The company’s AI division is using the app to quickly evaluate new features for Siri, Apple’s voice-powered assistant. That includes testing the ability to search through personal data, such as songs and emails, and perform in-app actions like editing photos,” says a report by Bloomberg.
The app is built atop a new code with the same AI foundations as other apps, which offer a large language model (LLM). In this case, the code is hybrid, combining Apple’s own Foundation Models and those supplied by a different AI lab.
The big take
The app currently being tested at Apple is likely a prototype designed solely for analyzing in-development features. Down the road, these features could be integrated within the Siri app and the Apple Intelligence stack as a whole.
The situation is pretty interesting. So far, Apple has offered a system where OpenAI’s ChatGPT takes over when Siri can’t fulfill a complex query. But as the company struggled with in-house progress, it has apparently talked with Google and Anthropic to test a version of Siri powered by Gemini and Claude, respectively.
“The fact that the company isn’t preparing to release the Veritas chatbot to customers comes as little surprise,” adds the latest report. It would be interesting to see what upgrades Apple has planned for Siri, which is due for an “LLM Siri” rebirth and a new visual identity.
