Mark Gurman, a reporter at Bloomberg, spent a long portion of his Sunday newsletter discussing the future of Siri, the iPhone's voice assistant. According to the source, Apple may soon be forced to open iOS to alternative voice assistants in Europe.
Alternative Voice Assistants on the iPhone
Faced with pressure from the European Union, which is demanding that Apple make room for competition on its smartphones, the iPhone could allow its users to select an assistant other than Siri. According to a source close to the matter, "Apple is currently working on changing its operating systems to allow, for the first time, users to replace Siri with another voice assistant as the default," explains Gurman.
In order to follow EU directives, Apple already allows European users to select a default browser other than Safari and a search engine other than Google. Importantly, Apple has been forced to open up to alternative app stores in Europe. Similarly, Apple may have to allow you to talk to another voice assistant. Assistants like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini could thus arrive on iOS.
Competition for the AI-powered Siri 2.0
The EU's demands would increase the pressure on the new AI-powered Siri, which is several months behind schedule. If Apple fails to convince with the new version of Siri, many European users could be tempted to choose an alternative. Now expected sometime this fall, the new Siri powered by generative AI will be able to use user data and apps installed on the iPhone to respond to requests.
Also according to Mark Gurman, some Apple executives still aim to "transform Siri into a true competitor to ChatGPT". To achieve this, Apple would like to allow Siri to browse the web in search of information. Apple has reportedly conducted tests in this regard in its labs. According to some Apple executives, the new Siri is now as intelligent as the latest versions of ChatGPT. In other words, Siri would be able to face a wave of competition in Europe.
In any case, Apple reportedly has no plans to discuss Siri's new strengths at WWDC 2025. These new features, based on generative AI, are not yet ready. Moreover, Apple's communications are now reportedly taking great care to dissociate Siri from the Apple Intelligence brand.
As the Bloomberg journalist points out, this strategy "amounts to a discreet admission that Siri's poor reputation is harming the image of Apple's AI efforts." During WWDC, Apple reportedly planned to announce several new features in Apple Intelligence, such as an "AI-powered battery management mode" and an AI-powered health coach. Finally, Apple reportedly decided to no longer reveal "its new features too far in advance." This is partly what contributed to the fiasco of the new Siri, whose promised improvements are still a long time coming, a year after the announcement...
Source: Bloomberg
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