- Apple is jerked to work on an AI search tool
- Function expected to launch by 2026 and could be run by Google
- iPhone 17 is expected to be revealed next week
Apple is said to work on an AI-run search engine that could be driven by Google, according to a top insider.
Mark Gurman, Bloomberg’s Apple expert, reports that Apple “plans to launch his own artificial intelligence-driven web search tool next year, increasing competition with Openai and Perplexity AI Inc.”
This comes after previous reports that Apple was investigating potential opportunities to improve its AI offering following the disappointing launch of Apple Intelligence almost 12 months ago.
Gurman has spoken to “People with Knowledge of the Case” who claims that the project is called “world knowledge answer” and it will be integrated into an upgraded version of Siri.
According to the report, some leaders call the upcoming software a “answer engine” and Apple is “aimed at releasing the service this spring.”
From Gurman’s article, it sounds like the World Knowledge -Svar works in the same way as Chatgpt -Search or Google’s AI mode, so users can ask Siri for answers and listen when the voice assistant reacts.
Interestingly, Gurman claims that the technology that is said to run this new feature could be driven by Google. He claims, “The companies reached a formal agreement this week on Apple to evaluate and test a Google-developed AI model to help drive the voice assistant.”
This would come as no surprise, especially considering previous reports that Apple was interested in implementing Google’s Gemini AI model for Apple Intelligence.
The intelligence we’ve been waiting for?
Gurman says “the new search experience will include a interface that uses text, photos, video and local points of interest, according to his sources. It will also offer an AI-driven summary system designed to make results faster digestible and more accurate than what is offered by the current Siri.”
While this sounds incredibly promising, it is worth taking with a grain of salt, especially considering Apple’s previous Track Record with the launch of AI-powered features. While Gurman is usually very accurate with his reports, so many things can change during the development of a product that is raised to launch almost 12 months from now.
Apple is ready for its biggest week of the year when it reveals the iPhone 17 on September 9, and although we don’t expect to look much from Apple Intelligence at the event, the Cupertino-based company has an AI surprise created.
Time will show whether this AI-driven SIRI search engine is coming to execution, but given the increase in popularity of generative AI tools, I suspect it could be a massive hit.
