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Apple's 'Answers' Team Eyes ChatGPT-Like Product
Apple’s new 'Answers' team is reportedly building a ChatGPT-like product, a major strategic shift to bring conversational AI in-house. Learn what this 'answer engine' means for Siri and the future of Apple.
The Future is Now: Apple’s New 'Answers' Team Eyes a ChatGPT-Like Product
For years, Apple has taken a cautious, measured approach to generative AI. While competitors like OpenAI and Google raced to release their own chatbots, Apple’s strategy appeared to be one of careful integration and on-device processing. We saw this with the initial rollout of Apple Intelligence, which offered useful, albeit subtle, features like Genmoji and Notification Summaries. The company even partnered with OpenAI to bring ChatGPT into Siri, seemingly solidifying its position as an AI partner rather than a direct competitor.
But now, a significant shift is underway.
Recent reports from sources like Bloomberg's Mark Gurman suggest that Apple has quietly formed a new internal team dedicated to developing a proprietary, ChatGPT-like product. This initiative, referred to internally as the "Answers, Knowledge and Information" or "AKI" team, signals that Apple is no longer content to stand on the sidelines. The company is now making a bold move to build its own conversational AI, a powerful "answer engine" designed to transform how we interact with knowledge and information across the Apple ecosystem.
This pivot is one of the most significant strategic decisions Apple has made in recent years, signalling a high-stakes gamble to own the future of artificial intelligence. It's not just about building a new app; it's about fundamentally rethinking the core of Siri, Safari, and Spotlight, and in doing so, creating a new, deeply integrated AI experience that could only come from Apple.
The Dawn of Apple’s In-House AI Engine
The formation of the "Answers" team represents Apple's most concrete step toward building a direct competitor to AI chatbots like ChatGPT. This isn't just a small side project; it's a dedicated effort to close the gap with industry leaders and redefine what an AI-powered experience can be on an Apple device.
The team is reportedly led by Robby Walker, a senior director who reports to Apple's AI chief, John Giannandrea. Walker, a former veteran of the Siri team, has been tasked with a monumental challenge: to create a system capable of providing conversational, web-based answers to general-knowledge questions. The goal is to move beyond the simple link lists of traditional search and give the users a synthesised, human-like response directly on their device.
The "Answers" team's work is still in its early stages, but the ambition is clear. Apple is reportedly exploring two primary avenues for this new technology: a standalone app that could rival other chatbots and a new back-end infrastructure designed to power enhanced search capabilities in future versions of its core software. This dual approach ensures that whether users want a dedicated chat experience or a seamlessly integrated assistant, Apple will be ready.
From ChatGPT Partnership to In-House Innovation
This new direction is particularly noteworthy because it marks a significant departure from Apple’s recent past. For a time, it seemed that the company was comfortable with a hybrid strategy, leveraging OpenAI's technology to augment Siri's capabilities for "world knowledge" queries. This was a pragmatic move, allowing Apple to quickly address a key user demand without the immense resources required to build a foundational model from scratch.
However, relying on a third-party partner like OpenAI, a company backed by its biggest competitor, Microsoft, always presented a potential long-term risk. Apple, a company built on a philosophy of end-to-end control and privacy, would inevitably want to own the core technology that defines its user experience.
The formation of the "Answers" team suggests that the partnership with OpenAI was a temporary measure. It bought Apple time to develop its own in-house technology, which is now coming to fruition. This strategic pivot is a clear signal that Apple believes the future of its ecosystem depends on its ability to control the entire AI stack, from on-device processing to large language models.
What Will Apple's ChatGPT-Like Product Do?
The name "answer engine" gives us the most important clue about the product’s intended function. It's not just a general-purpose chatbot for creative writing or code generation. Instead, its primary focus is to provide accurate, comprehensive, and context-rich answers to user questions.
Think about the limitations of the current search. When you ask a question like "What are the benefits of a Mediterranean diet?", you get a list of links. You then have to click through them, sift through ads, and synthesise the information yourself. An answer engine, on the other hand, would crawl the web, process that information, and present a concise, well-structured answer in a conversational format.
This could revolutionise how we use key Apple services:
Siri: Instead of a simple "I can't do that" or a list of web results, Siri could provide a direct, intelligent response to complex queries. The new "Answers" team’s work could be the long-awaited overhaul that finally makes Siri a brilliant assistant.
Safari: The browser could offer a summary of a lengthy article or a quick answer to a question without users needing to navigate away from the page.
Spotlight: The search feature could become a powerful AI hub, providing instant answers and insights from both local and web-based sources.
This deep integration into the Apple ecosystem is a key differentiator from existing chatbots. While you can download a standalone app from a competitor, Apple's product will be baked into the operating system itself, leveraging on-device processing and the company's renowned focus on user privacy.
Apple's AI Push: A High-Stakes Gamble
Apple's foray into the generative AI space is not without its risks and challenges. The company is playing catch-up in a crowded and fast-moving market, and it faces intense competition for top talent. Recent reports indicate that Apple has lost several key AI researchers to rivals, particularly Meta, which is reportedly offering astronomical compensation packages to build its own AI teams.
However, Apple has a history of entering markets later than its competitors and still winning big. As CEO, Tim Cook famously said in a rare all-hands meeting, "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 quote encapsulates the company’s long-standing strategy of prioritising polish and a superior user experience over being first to market.
This new AI push also has massive financial implications. For years, Apple has had a multibillion-dollar search deal with Google, which pays Apple to be the default search engine on its devices. This is a crucial revenue stream for Apple's Services division. By building its own "answer engine," Apple could potentially reduce its reliance on Google, especially if the new technology can effectively answer many of the queries that would otherwise be sent to a traditional search engine. This strategic independence could be a significant long-term play.
Despite its late start in the AI race, Apple's brand strength remains undeniable. In the first quarter of 2025, the iPhone 16 was reportedly the world’s best-selling smartphone, according to Counterpoint Research, demonstrating that consumer loyalty and product quality continue to be key drivers of success. Now, the challenge for the "Answers" team is to deliver an AI experience that lives up to that brand promise.
The Road Ahead: Why This Matters for the Future of Apple
The new "Answers" team is not just about building a product; it’s about securing Apple's place in the next great technological frontier. The AI revolution is poised to reshape how we interact with technology, and Apple knows it must be at the forefront.
By developing its own ChatGPT-like product, Apple can ensure that its AI remains private, secure, and deeply integrated into its user experience. This vertical integration, which has been the cornerstone of Apple's success for decades, will allow the company to create a cohesive and powerful AI assistant that works seamlessly across all its devices.
The road ahead is long and challenging, but the direction is now unmistakable. Apple is betting big on its ability to build a best-in-class, privacy-first AI engine that will not only catch up with the competition but define the future of conversational AI on its platforms. The success of the "Answers" team could be the key to Apple's next significant era of innovation.
What do you think Apple’s new AI engine will mean for the future of Siri? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Further Reading:
How Apple Intelligence Works The Role of Generative AI in Modern Business Bloomberg: Apple’s New 'Answers' Team
