Is Apple Finally Admitting Defeat in AI?
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In what can only be described as a tech industry plot twist worthy of a Silicon Valley season finale, Apple—the company that famously reinvents everything from smartphones to charging cables—is reportedly considering outsourcing the brains behind Siri to its AI competitors.
Yes, you read that correctly.
The same Apple that wouldn't let you use a standard charging cable for over a decade is now contemplating handing over its voice assistant's neural pathways to Anthropic's Claude or OpenAI's ChatGPT.
Apple is exploring partnerships with OpenAI and Anthropic to power a more advanced version of Siri, as internal struggles and rising competition force a rethink of its AI strategy.
How Siri Became the Butt of AI Jokes
Let's be honest: Siri has become the Clippy of the 2020s. While ChatGPT was helping students write essays and Claude was assisting with complex reasoning tasks, Siri was still struggling to understand why someone might want to set multiple timers.
Apple was forced to delay its AI-enabled Siri, originally slated for 2025, until 2026 or later due to a series of technical challenges the company reportedly ran into.
The writing has been on the wall for some time. At the 2024 WWDC, Apple introduced 'Apple Intelligence', (really, Apple Intelligence?) a long-awaited move into generative AI.
The demo was vintage Apple, sleek, polished, and backed by celebrity flair with actor Bella Ramsey. Soon, though, reality kicked in.
One key promise, Siri's memory of previous conversations, never made it to market.
Nothing says "we have a problem" quite like a good old-fashioned executive reshuffling. The project to evaluate external models was initiated by Siri chief Mike Rockwell and software engineering head Craig Federighi, who were handed the Siri keys after they were unceremoniously removed from AI chief John Giannandrea's command.
Giannandrea found himself on the sidelines following what can diplomatically be called a "tepid response" to Apple Intelligence and the inevitable Siri delays.
Rockwell, fresh from launching the Vision Pro headset (another product that's still searching for its market), took over Siri engineering in March with a mandate that essentially boiled down to: "Fix this mess, and fix it fast." After multiple rounds of testing that probably felt like speed dating for AI models, the team concluded that Anthropic's technology showed the most promise for Siri's needs.
Why Apple's In-House AI Fell Short
The lack of adequate GPU resources meant Apple's AI team had to negotiate for computing power from providers like Google and Amazon. At the time, Apple's data centers had about 50,000 GPUs that were more than five years old – far fewer than the hundreds of thousands of chips being purchased by their competitors.
This is where Apple's legendary secrecy and control-freak tendencies became a liability. While OpenAI and Anthropic were burning through venture capital and cloud computing resources like there was no tomorrow, Apple was trying to build world-class AI with the equivalent of a flip phone and some string. The company that perfected planned obsolescence for consumer devices apparently forgot to apply the same principle to its own infrastructure.
David vs. Multiple Goliaths
The AI race has moved at breakneck speed, and Apple found itself playing catch-up in a marathon where everyone else had already crossed the finish line. Apple's efforts to develop its own generative AI only left it further behind its competitors, with insiders saying continued failure to get artificial intelligence right threatens everything from the iPhone's dominance to plans for robots and other futuristic products.
Meanwhile, Google has been integrating AI into search for years, Microsoft has Copilot embedded across its entire ecosystem, and even smaller players like Anthropic have built AI assistants that can engage in nuanced conversations about everything from philosophy to quantum physics. Siri, bless her digital heart, still sometimes can't figure out which timer you want to cancel when you have two running.
What This Means for Apple's Future
This potential partnership represents more than just a technological pivot—it's a fundamental shift in Apple's DNA. For a company that has built its brand on end-to-end control and seamless integration, admitting that external AI might power one of its core features is almost as good as admitting defeat without saying so.
Apple Inc. executives have held internal discussions about potentially bidding for artificial intelligence startup Perplexity AI, seeking to address the need for more AI talent and technology. This suggests that the company is considering not just licensing deals but potentially major acquisitions to close the AI gap.
Here's the irony: Apple's potential decision to use external AI models might actually improve the user experience dramatically. While purists might grumble about the loss of Apple's integrated approach, most users just want Siri to work.
The AI device competition is also behind the curve at launching "must-have" AI features. There are smartphones and devices with AI capabilities outside of Apple products, but none of these devices have features unique enough yet to get Apple users to switch. This gives Apple a window of opportunity, but it's closing fast.
Shares of the iPhone maker, which had traded down earlier in recent months, jumped over 2% when news of the potential AI partnerships broke. Wall Street clearly approves of Apple's willingness to swallow its pride and seek outside help.
Apple Inc. shares have been heavily tethered to US trade policies this year, but its annual developer's conference could refocus Wall Street's attention on a potentially bigger problem: its struggles with artificial intelligence. Investors are finally waking up to the fact that in the AI era, even Apple's reality distortion field has its limits.
The potential integration of Anthropic's Claude or OpenAI's ChatGPT into Siri could mark the beginning of a new era for Apple—one where the company is more willing to acknowledge that it doesn't have to invent everything in-house to deliver the best user experience.
This could set a precedent for future partnerships and acquisitions, particularly as AI continues to evolve at a pace that would make Moore's Law look sluggish.
The company has promised it could deliver a new version of its voice assistant that understands personal context and takes action inside of apps since last year, but officially delayed the updated Siri in March 2025. By potentially partnering with established AI leaders, Apple might finally be able to deliver on promises that have been years in the making.
Apple's potential pivot to external AI models for Siri isn't just about fixing a flailing product—it's about recognizing that the future of technology might require a more collaborative approach than Apple has traditionally embraced.
The company that once claimed it would "think different" might now need to think collaboratively. And honestly?
That might be the most innovative thing Apple has done in years. After all, there's nothing more revolutionary than a company famous for its pride - learning to ask for help.
Whether this partnership materializes or remains in the discussion phase, one thing is clear: the AI wars have pushed even the most stubborn tech giants to reconsider their go-it-alone strategies. And if Apple can deliver a Siri that actually works as advertised, most users won't care if it's powered by Apple's technology or borrowed brains from San Francisco's AI elite.
Sometimes the best way to stay ahead is admitting you've fallen behind—and Apple might finally be ready to have that uncomfortable conversation.
About the author: Rupesh Bhambwani is a technology enthusiast specializing in the broad technology industry dynamics and international technology policy.
When not obsessing over nanometer-scale transistors, energy requirements of AI models, real-world impacts of the AI revolution and staring at the stars, he can be found trying to explain to his relatives why their smartphones are actually miracles of modern engineering, usually to limited success.
This is one more arrow in a long death of Apple since Jobs left.