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Apple set to transform Siri into built-in AI chatbot powered by custom Google Gemini tech in iOS 27

MacDailyNews

Jan 22

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Apple is set to transform Siri into a full-fledged AI chatbot with the release of iOS 27 later this year, marking a significant shift in the company’s strategy to catch up in the generative AI race led by OpenAI, xAI, and Google.

According to a report from Bloomberg News‘ Mark Gurman, the revamped Siri—internally code-named Campos — will replace the existing Siri interface and become deeply embedded across Apple’s ecosystem, including iPhone, iPad, and Mac devices. This chatbot will be the centerpiece of upcoming operating systems: iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 (both code-named Rave) as well as macOS 27 (code-named Fizz). Beyond the chatbot integration, these OS updates will primarily focus on performance enhancements and bug fixes rather than sweeping design changes.

The new Siri aims to deliver a conversational experience that has long been missing from Apple’s digital assistant. Unlike the current version, which lacks the fluid back-and-forth dialogue found in competitors like ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini, Campos will support both voice and text-based interactions. Users will activate it by saying “Siri” or holding the side button on their iPhone or iPad.

Key capabilities expected from the revamped Siri include:

• Searching the web for information
• Creating content and generating images
• Summarizing documents or information
• Analyzing uploaded files
• Accessing and utilizing personal data to locate files, songs, calendar events, messages, and more
Understanding on-screen content to suggest actions or complete tasks
• Controlling core device functions, such as making calls, setting timers, or launching the camera

It will integrate seamlessly with Apple’s native apps, enabling voice-driven tasks like editing photos based on descriptions, drafting emails about upcoming calendar plans in Mail, or working with code in Xcode. The chatbot could even supplant Spotlight as the primary way to search device content and pull in quick info like weather or sports scores.

Apple is powering this overhaul with a custom AI model derived from Google’s Gemini technology (referred to as Apple Foundation Models version 11, comparable to Gemini 3). This builds on the company’s existing partnership with Google, which already supports upcoming enhancements in an interim update to iOS 26.4 expected in the coming months. That earlier release will bring a more capable — but non-chatbot — Siri with features like on-screen awareness, personal context access, and improved web search, powered by an earlier model version.

Privacy is said to remain a core focus for Apple. Unlike third-party chatbots that retain extensive conversation histories, the new Siri will sharply limit its memory of user interactions. Responses drawing from web sources will include citations, similar to tools like Perplexity or ChatGPT.

While Apple has internally tested Campos as a standalone app (code-named Veritas), the company has no plans to release it that way. Instead, it will be woven directly into the operating systems for a native, integrated experience. This approach contrasts with rivals that offer separate apps, but aligns with Apple’s philosophy of keeping AI capabilities accessible without redirecting users to external chat experiences.

The shift represents a notable change in direction. Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, previously stated that releasing a standalone chatbot “was never the company’s goal,” emphasizing integration over isolated chat interfaces. However, the explosive popularity of generative AI tools from OpenAI (with ChatGPT surpassing 800 million weekly active users) and others has prompted Apple to adapt, especially after a challenging 2024 rollout of initial Apple Intelligence features that many viewed as underwhelming.

The chatbot features are slated to arrive later in 2026, with an unveiling likely at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June and a full release in September alongside new iPhones. In the meantime, discussions continue about hosting infrastructure, with options including Google’s servers using TPUs.

MacDailyNews Take: The irony is thick and the hypocrisy blatant, but, of course, this indicative of Tim Cook’s Apple:

Steve Jobs famously declared he’d go thermonuclear on Google, vowing to spend Apple’s last penny and his dying breath to destroy Android because it was a “stolen product” and “grand theft.”

Fast-forward to 2026, and Apple — which missed the GenAI revolution because it’s still stuck with an operations manager masquerading as a CEO — is reduced to quietly skinning Google’s own Gemini tech as “Apple Intelligence” — essentially outsourcing the AI brains of iOS 27 to the very company that co-founder Jobs rightly saw as a thief in the vein of Microsoft.

From “thermonuclear war” to “thanks for the foundation model.”

. – January 20, 2026

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