Apple is Reportedly Building Its Own AI Answer Engine to Rival ChatGPT and Google Search

In what may be the most ambitious AI play in some time, Apple is said to be developing a robust "answer engine" a ChatGPT-like AI that may revolutionize how people use Siri, Safari, and Spotlight. Apple has quietly put together a new group known as Answers, Knowledge, and Information (AKI) to build this next-generation AI experience, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

Although the Cupertino technology giant has so far been cautious about adding chatbot-style AI to its offerings, this development indicates a course correction in Apple's long-term AI strategy. The answer engine, if released, might exist as a standalone application or be deeply integrated into Apple's underlying services, providing conversational, web-enlightened answers like Perplexity AI or ChatGPT.

What Is Apple's AI Answer Engine?

Apple's much-talked-about "answer engine" is also imagined as a hybrid model. Similar to other AI-powered search offerings, it will initially collect pertinent information and URLs from all over the internet, and then use large language models (LLMs) to synthesize the data intelligently and furnish users with rich and context-specific answers.

This two-layered system reflects how contemporary generative AI technology operates by putting together the strength of older search engines with the ephemerality of conversational AI. Be it asking Siri a trivia question or searching something through Safari, Apple's AI may soon provide much more augmented answers beyond static web URLs.

The Team Behind Apple's AI-Powered Answer Engine

Heading the creation of this highly ambitious project is Robby Walker, Apple's Senior Director now leading the newly established AKI team. He reports directly to John Giannandrea, Apple's Senior Vice President of Machine Learning and AI Strategy. Sources indicate that the team comprises a number of former Siri engineers as well as search algorithm development experts indicating Apple's serious commitment to taking its AI game to the next level.

Walker was allegedly assigned to head the team in April 2025, according to his LinkedIn page. Apple has also been recruiting experts with strong experience in search engines and AI technologies to reaffirm that the company is not playing around, but heavily committed to creating a strong alternative to Google's dominance in the search environment.

A Strategic Shift

While Apple has already incorporated ChatGPT into Siri in some limited capacities, the company has repeatedly delayed introducing a more advanced AI-driven version of its voice assistant. This latest move towards a proprietary answer engine might be Apple's attempt at taking control back over its search experience particularly in response to Google's continued antitrust challenges.

Interestingly, Apple Software Engineering VP Craig Federighi had earlier shot down the possibility of having a "bolt-on chatbot", saying that Apple wasn't interested in merely copying what OpenAI or others were doing. But this new answer engine represents a more profound and integrated strategy toward AI that is consistent with Apple's user-first design philosophy.

Implications for the Apple-Google Deal

One of the stronger angles on this story is the potential consequence of Google's $20 billion-a-year agreement with Apple, keeping Google Search as the default search engine on iPhones and other Apple products. With Google under increasing pressure from the U.S. Department of Justice regarding antitrust issues, Apple may be thinking ahead to the future without Google search, where it would use its own AI-powered answer engine.

If that happens, Apple wouldn't just reduce its dependence on Google it could also carve out a unique position in the increasingly competitive AI space. Imagine a world where asking Siri a question doesn’t just yield a web link but delivers a complete, conversational response powered by Apple’s own technology.

The Perplexity Influence

Apple's purported plan appears to be greatly influenced by Perplexity AI, which is a rapidly emerging startup that introduced the term "answer engine" to characterize its AI-driven search solution. Perplexity's success has proven that there is a strong market for conversational search and Apple, with its enormous user base, might be well-positioned to take advantage of this trend.

The test, though, will be in implementation. Creating a proper, impartial, and safe AI answer engine that is respectful of Apple's high expectations for privacy and performance will not be simple. But if any firm can achieve it at scale, it's Apple.

Apple has traditionally operated in the AI game quietly with a focus on on-device smarts, user privacy, and under-the-hood improvements over flashy features. But building out this AI response engine may represent a radical departure toward a more assertive and public AI approach.

Whether it's a strategic insurance policy against losing Google, a organic extension of Siri, or a bid to reimagine how we search for information on our devices Apple's action is one worth observing closely. If successful, it would remake not just Apple's product platform but also disrupt current giants in search and generative AI such as Google, Microsoft (with Bing + Copilot), and OpenAI.

Tune in at AndroBranch for further updates as the story continues to unfold!