Apple is preparing to launch World Knowledge Answers, a new AI-powered “answer engine” integrated into Siri, with rollout expected in spring 2026. The tool is designed to rival OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s AI Overviews, and Perplexity by delivering conversational responses to user queries, instead of redirecting to links. This marks one of Apple’s most ambitious AI projects to date and represents a major shift in its approach to search.
According to Bloomberg, Apple’s new system will be powered by a large language model (LLM) that can access live world knowledge, enabling Siri to deliver direct conversational responses instead of simply redirecting users to web links. This approach brings Siri in line with generative AI assistants like ChatGPT and Google Gemini, which are already redefining how people search for and interact with information.
At the core of this new Siri experience will be three components. A planner will interpret and understand user prompts, especially when personal or contextual device data is involved. A search operator will fetch the most relevant information from the web or local sources. Finally, a summarizer will generate polished and accurate answers. This layered approach is meant to bring Siri closer to the capabilities of AI assistants like Gemini and ChatGPT.
Apple is taking a hybrid approach to the underlying models. Its own Apple Intelligence features will power the planner and ensure personal data stays secure on-device. For broader knowledge, Apple is in talks to use third-party LLMs, including Google’s Gemini and Anthropic’s Claude, with testing already underway on Apple’s Private Cloud Compute servers. Apple may even consider OpenAI models as part of its evaluation. This arrangement suggests Apple is not looking to replace Google Search overnight but instead build its own foundation while leveraging partners where necessary.
Initially, World Knowledge Answers will be built into Siri, but Apple also plans to expand the technology to Safari and Spotlight in later updates. This expansion could eventually reduce Apple’s reliance on its multi-billion-dollar deal with Google, which currently makes Google Search the default option in Safari. While the Google partnership remains intact, Apple’s new initiative signals its intent to carve out more independence in search technology and control over how user queries are handled.
The project is part of Apple’s larger investment in AI, which includes as much as $100 billion in infrastructure for generative models and cloud computing. True to its privacy-first philosophy, Apple is designing the system so that personal data is processed locally while web-scale knowledge queries are routed securely through its private cloud. This balance could help the company differentiate its assistant from rivals that rely heavily on centralized data collection.
If Apple successfully delivers on World Knowledge Answers, Siri could finally evolve into a highly capable, context-aware assistant. Instead of being a tool limited to reminders, commands, and simple facts, Siri could become a central hub for AI-powered answers across Apple’s ecosystem, redefining how users interact with their devices.
