Apple's AI Ambition Includes A ChatGPT 'Replacement'

According to a recent article by Mark Gurman, Apple has formed a new team to develop a ChatGPT-like application.

Gurman revealed that this team, named "Answers, Knowledge, and Information" (abbreviated as AKI), is working on building an "answer engine" that can respond to questions using information from the web.  

It could be a standalone application or provide search functionality for Siri, Safari, and other Apple products.  

Gurman also noted that Apple is currently recruiting for this team, particularly seeking candidates with experience in search algorithms and engine development.  

The AI Path

When Apple introduced its AI platform, Apple Intelligence, last year, the company made it clear that it would not develop its chatbot. Instead, it announced a partnership with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into the Siri voice assistant, allowing users to access "global knowledge" without relying on Apple's in-house products.  

Since then, Apple's senior software and marketing executives have repeatedly stated that they no longer see the need to launch a chatbot and believe consumer interest is limited.  

However, the reality is that while Apple Intelligence can summarize notifications, rewrite text, generate emojis, and clean up photos, it lacks the conversational AI search experience offered by ChatGPT or Google Gemini. In other words, Apple Intelligence does not yet have search capabilities.  

At the same time, it's frustrating that Siri remains unreliable when answering questions. While it can handle some basic queries, it often has to defer other requests to ChatGPT or simply direct users to a generic web search.  

This deficiency in search functionality puts Apple at a disadvantage. The company has never developed its search engine—partly because of its agreement with Google, under which Alphabet pays Apple approximately $20 billion annually to remain the default search option on Apple devices.  

But this arrangement may soon be disrupted. Apple may have to alter its search agreement with Google, as it is widely expected that the U.S. Department of Justice will mandate changes, potentially costing Apple billions per year. During last week's earnings call, Apple's CFO hinted that the growth of its services business is closely tied to the Google deal.  

Meanwhile, the search landscape is rapidly evolving. Thanks to generative AI, the way people use tools like ChatGPT has far surpassed traditional queries. Apple's services chief, Eddy Cue, pointed out that AI-based search is the future, confirming that Apple is exploring partnerships to create a more modern search experience, including with the startup Perplexity.  

The New Team  

Despite some lingering reservations among Apple executives, the company is moving in this direction. Earlier this year, Apple quietly formed a new team called AKI. Reports indicate that this team is exploring in-house AI services with the goal of creating a new search experience similar to ChatGPT.  

The AKI team is led by senior executive Robby Walker and reports to AI chief John Giannandrea.  

Walker previously oversaw Siri but was reassigned after personnel changes. After being tasked with leading the new AKI project, he brought along several key team members from the Siri era.  

The team is building what is referred to as an "answer engine"—a system capable of scraping web information to answer general knowledge questions. Additionally, the team is currently developing a standalone application and new backend infrastructure aimed at providing robust search functionality for future versions of Siri, Spotlight, and Safari.  

Apple recently began posting job openings on its recruitment website. Gurman noted that while the final product may still be a long way off, Apple's direction is now unmistakable: a ChatGPT-like, streamlined, Apple-built search experience is on the way.