Apple builds a ChatGPT-like app to help test the revamped Siri

[LOS ANGELES] Apple has developed a ChatGPT-like iPhone app to help test and prepare for a long-anticipated overhaul of Siri coming next year, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The company’s artificial intelligence (AI) division is using the app to quickly evaluate new features for Siri, Apple’s voice-powered assistant. That includes testing the ability to search through personal data, such as songs and e-mails, and perform in-app actions such as editing photos, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the initiative is private.

The software, code-named Veritas, Latin for “truth”, is meant for internal use, at least for now. Apple has no current plans to release it to consumers. The app essentially takes the still-in-progress technology from the new Siri and puts it in a form that employees can test out more efficiently. The company can also gather feedback on whether the chatbot format has value.

Even without a public launch, the internal tool marks a new phase in Apple’s preparations for Siri’s overhaul, a high-stakes release that could reshape perceptions of its AI efforts.

The new Siri is now slated to debut as early as March after multiple delays. If the software works as promised, it could help propel Apple towards an AI comeback. If it falls short, the company risks slipping further behind smartphone rivals such as Alphabet’s Google and Samsung Electronics.

Competition over AI features is expected to ramp up next year, making it a more decisive factor in smartphone purchasing decisions. When Apple unveiled the iPhone 17 this month, the company notably avoided highlighting its in-house AI platform.

Apple had planned to release the Siri overhaul last spring but delayed the rollout after engineering problems caused the features to fail as much as a third of the time, Bloomberg News previously reported.

The internal Veritas app resembles the most popular chatbots, letting users manage multiple conversations across different topics. It can save and reference past chats, follow up on earlier queries and support extended back-and-forth exchanges.

A spokesperson for Cupertino, California-based Apple, declined to comment.

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The app is designed to test the revamped underlying system, code-named Linwood, that Apple has built to power the new Siri. That software relies on large language models – the technology underpinning generative AI – and combines work from Apple’s own Foundation Models team with a third-party model.

Apple’s broader goal is to establish itself as a leader in a critical market. In a recent meeting with staff, chief executive officer Tim Cook said the company must win in AI, calling it the biggest transformation in decades. “This is sort of ours to grab,” Cook said. “We will make the investment to do it.”

Beyond the Siri overhaul, Apple is preparing a visually redesigned version of its voice assistant for the end of next year. It’s also working on a range of AI-powered smart home devices, adding more AI features to the HomePod speaker and Apple TV set-top box, and making a push into AI-based web search.

Earlier this year, the company held talks with OpenAI about helping power the new Siri and later entered advanced negotiations to use Anthropic’s Claude. But, recently, Apple has ramped up discussions with Google about deploying a custom version of the Gemini platform for this effort.

The fact that the company is not preparing to release the Veritas chatbot to customers comes as little surprise. Executives have long expressed reluctance, both internally and externally, about entering the market.

In a June interview with Tom’s Guide, Apple software chief Craig Federighi said such a tool “remains not our primary goal” while also acknowledging that such apps are powerful.

“Are they the most important thing for Apple to develop?” he asked. “Time will tell where we go there.”

The Siri upgrade’s postponement earlier this year triggered a wider overhaul of Apple’s AI strategy, including the sidelining of AI chief John Giannandrea and some of his deputies, Bloomberg reported at the time.

Robby Walker, who directly oversaw Siri until the delays, will leave Apple in October. Walker had launched a new Answers, Knowledge, and Information, or AKI, team after losing his Siri responsibilities. That group is now central to developing AI-based search features in the updated Siri.

Veritas should help advance this effort as well by allowing testers to gather information from the Internet and see it summarised. Apple ultimately aims to compete with ChatGPT and Perplexity offerings, but within the Siri interface itself.

The Siri upgrade is designed to act on information displayed on a customer’s screen, something the assistant cannot do currently. It will also allow users to navigate their devices more seamlessly via Siri. BLOOMBERG