Apple renames Siri as ‘Siri AI’ with new push into artificial intelligence

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Apple said Monday that it was overhauling its longtime virtual assistant, Siri, by adding artificial intelligence features and changing its name to Siri AI.

The iPhone maker announced the changes at its annual technology meeting, the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). Company executives demonstrated using the virtual assistant for various everyday tasks, such as looking up the date of a concert, shopping for a backpack or planning a soccer watch party.

It appeared to be the biggest revamp of Siri since Apple bought the voice-enabled assistant in 2010 and integrated it into its devices the following year, and it puts Siri into more direct competition with modern AI assistants such as ChatGPT.

Mike Rockwell, Apple’s vice president in charge of Siri engineering, said in a keynote video that Siri AI would draw on a wide array of information sources — including data inside the device and the open web — to answer questions and accomplish tasks.

At WWDC26, Apple unveiled the next generation of Apple Intelligence, Siri AI, powerful parental controls, and an expansive set of software improvements across iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, visionOS, and tvOS. (Apple)

(Apple)

“Siri is now a profoundly more capable assistant that helps you find what you need and gets more done,” he said.

Apple’s deeper dive into AI chatbots is happening despite some signs of consumer dissatisfaction with how quickly other tech companies have integrated AI into their products and services. Microsoft last month retreated from adding AI features to its Xbox systems, while surveys show little enthusiasm for putting more AI into apps or devices.

But consumers are also downloading AI chatbots in huge numbers. On Monday, three of the top six apps in the Apple app marketplace were chatbot apps: OpenAI’s ChatGPT at No. 1, Anthropic’s Claude at No. 5 and Google Gemini at No. 6. Another one, Meta AI, was No. 19.

In the case of Google, Apple’s Siri AI is both a competitor and a partner. Apple said in January…

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