Apple is quietly building its own AI-powered “answer engine,” positioning the project as a core upgrade for Siri, Safari, and Spotlight. Internal reports indicate the company has formed a specialized team titled “Answers, Knowledge and Information,” led by former Siri executive Robby Walker and reporting to AI chief John Giannandrea.
The engine aims to deliver concise, conversational responses to general knowledge questions by crawling and synthesizing information from across the web. Reports suggest it could function as a standalone app or be embedded into existing system tools such as Siri, Spotlight and Safari search functionalities.
Job listings on Apple’s careers page for engineers with expertise in search algorithm and engine development further suggest the company is stepping up recruitment to build this capability in-house.
Industry analysts view the move as part of Apple’s broader effort to reduce reliance on external AI partners and strengthen its position in generative AI. The company currently integrates third-party models such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT into Siri, but the planned answer engine marks a strategic shift toward proprietary technology.
While Apple has positioned itself as a privacy-first innovator, its competitors have moved rapidly in public generative AI services. Apple CEO Tim Cook has acknowledged both the urgency and challenges, stating during an internal meeting that “Apple must do this. Apple will do this” amid delays in Siri improvements.
The project appears to respond to concerns around recent studies by Apple researchers highlighting shortcomings in competitor AI models’ ability to handle complex reasoning tasks and problems without effort or contextual awareness.
If completed successfully, the answer engine could reshape user experience across Apple’s ecosystem by providing direct and contextually tailored answers rather than list-style search results. It also signals Apple’s ambition to own the conversational AI layer in its devices, prioritizing speed, privacy, and integration over reliance on others’ generative models.
Apple has not yet announced a release timeline for the answer engine. Observers expect early integration in iOS 26 and macOS updates, possibly timed with the iPhone 17 launch. The development suggests Apple is preparing for potential changes to its longstanding default Google search arrangement in Safari, particularly in light of antitrust pressure on that partnership.
This move represents Apple’s first major bet toward a self-built conversational search solution and underscores its strategic push deeper into generative AI even as it moves cautiously and continues to balance innovation with its reputation for privacy and stability.
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