Apple has formed a new team to build a “ChatGPT-like app”, according to a Bloomberg report by Mark Gurman. This team, called “Answers, Knowledge, and Information (AKI),” is working to build an “answer engine” that can respond to questions with information found across the web. This could be a standalone app or provide search capabilities in Siri, Safari, and other Apple products.
When Apple introduced its AI platform last year, executives made it clear there wouldn’t be an in-house chatbot. Instead, the company partnered with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into Siri. While Apple’s software and marketing leaders have since expressed skepticism about ChatGPT-style tools and the consumer interest in chatbots, the reality of how these products serve hundreds of millions globally for tasks led to a change in direction for the company. The AKI team, led by senior director Robby Walker under AI chief John Giannandrea, is exploring both a standalone app and new backend infrastructure to power search capabilities in future versions of Siri, Spotlight, and Safari.
READ: OpenAI’s Sam Altman warns of AI voice fraud in banking (July 23, 2025)
Apple CEO Tim Cook said in an all-hands meeting that Apple “must do this” and “will make the investment to do it.” He also said the “AI revolution” was “ as big or bigger than the internet, smartphones, and cloud computing.” Cook also acknowledged Apple’s approach of entering markets later, but creating defining products. “We’ve rarely been first. There was a PC before the Mac; there was a smartphone before the iPhone…This is how I feel about AI.
This comes at a time when Apple is facing pressure on multiple fronts. The company’s $20 billion annual deal with Google for default search could be disrupted by antitrust action, while Apple Intelligence currently lacks the conversational search capabilities available in ChatGPT or Google Gemini.
The Bloomberg report also mentioned that Apple is advertising for jobs with this team, specifically looking for applicants who have experience with search algorithms and engine development. One of the job listings is for the position of a Staff Machine Learning Engineer to help build intelligent search applications. Other job postings include a Senior Speech Machine Learning Engineer who will be responsible for advancing Siri Conversational AI.
The formation of the Answers team is a solid step forward for Apple in the AI race, as it tries to join the ranks of heavyweights like OpenAI and Google. While Apple has been on its AI journey for a while, it currently lags behind its competitors. The company also faced a setback with the delay in conversational Siri. Apple has several AI plans for the upcoming year, however, it is unsure when these advanced features will roll out to users.