Apple is reportedly in advanced discussions with leading artificial intelligence companies, including OpenAI (creator of ChatGPT) and Anthropic (developer of Claude), to potentially integrate a third-party large language model (LLM) as the core of its Siri voice assistant. These talks aim to bolster Siri’s AI capabilities and deliver more advanced features to users.
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple has asked both OpenAI and Anthropic to train customized versions of their LLMs to run on Apple’s Private Cloud Compute infrastructure. This strategy would allow Apple to host these models on servers powered by Apple silicon, providing greater control over user privacy compared to relying on external cloud platforms like Amazon Web Services or Azure.
Negotiations are ongoing, and no final decision has been made according to the report. Internally, the Siri revamp project is led by Mike Rockwell and Craig Federighi, who took over after Apple CEO Tim Cook reportedly “lost confidence” in executive John Giannandrea’s leadership of the initiative.
Despite Apple’s ongoing internal efforts to develop its own LLM for Siri, multiple rounds of testing have led to the conclusion that Anthropic’s technology is currently better suited for Siri’s needs than Apple’s in-house solutions. Apple even dispatched corporate development VP Adrian Perica to lead discussions with Anthropic. However, a significant hurdle in reaching a deal with Anthropic is compensation, as the startup is reportedly seeking a “multibillion-dollar annual fee that would increase sharply each year”. This financial discrepancy has led Apple to also consider partnerships with other companies, including OpenAI.
Apple has faced public struggles in its AI development. The company previewed new Siri capabilities at the June 2024 WWDC keynote and advertised them as a feature for the iPhone 16 models, but ultimately could not develop the technology in time. In March, Apple announced that the Apple Intelligence Siri features would be delayed until 2026, a decision that reportedly “sparked customer outrage and led to several lawsuits”. Apple now plans to introduce those features in an update to iOS 26.
Apple’s work on an LLM version of Siri is separate from the personalized Siri features slated for iOS 26. The LLM Siri is planned as a subsequent update, presumably debuting with iOS 27 in the fall of 2026. Partnering with Anthropic or OpenAI would provide Apple with valuable time to continue refining its own AI models while still delivering modern AI features that customers expect. Apple already has an existing partnership with OpenAI, allowing iOS 18 users to direct Siri requests to ChatGPT for more comprehensive answers.
Behind the scenes, the potential shift to outside AI models is reportedly causing some internal discontent. Morale among Apple’s Foundation Models team has reportedly taken a hit, with some members feeling “scapegoated for the company’s slow progress in generative AI,” leading to some departures. Apple is also confronting a compensation challenge, as competitors like Meta and OpenAI are reportedly “paying packages as high as $40 million per year,” significantly more than Apple typically pays for similar roles. In one instance, the team responsible for Apple’s open-source MLX framework nearly quit en masse before Apple made counteroffers to retain them.
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