Desired to catch up in the AI race, Apple is working on a Siri-based alternative to ChatGPT. According to the latest information gleaned by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the chatbot is currently being tested internally. The project is being led by Robby Walker, the former senior director on the Siri team.
The chatbot, dubbed Knowledge by Apple employees, is said to be able to mine data from the internet to answer users' questions. Similar to ChatGPT, Grok, or Gemini, the chatbot would act as an assistant for online searches.
Powerful AI models in the pipeline for Apple
To power Siri in the ChatGPT way, Apple would rely on "a wide range of models of varying complexity" developed by itself. The Cupertino giant would have artificial intelligence models with 3, 7, 33, and even 150 billion parameters. The most powerful model, which runs on the power of the cloud, would be significantly smarter than the models used by Apple Intelligence, which run locally on iPhones.
These AI models are also intended to boost the new voice version of Siri, which is expected to be rolled out this fall. According to Mark Gurman, this new Siri should be similar to ChatGPT's voice mode. This allows for natural, fluid, and dynamic communication with generative AI.
An AI that hallucinates too much
Powered by sophisticated AI models, Apple's ChatGPT has made good progress. The company's benchmarks show that the chatbot is approaching the performance offered by the latest iterations of ChatGPT. However, the group still encounters significant difficulties.
Also according to the information listed by Bloomberg, the chatbot often tends to hallucinate, that is, to talk nonsense with aplomb. This was one of the main flaws of the first versions of ChatGPT, and of all generative AI in general. When they don't find information, they tend to embroider based on the available data. This is why Apple has been reluctant to deploy the tool. Some executives, like John Giannandrea, the former head of Siri, want to take a cautious approach. For the moment, "no public version" of the chatbot has been developed. We'll have to be patient.
Anything new at WWDC?
Apple is not expected to discuss the project at the next WWDC, whose opening conference will take place on Monday, June 9, 2025. Having been scalded by the delays accumulated by Siri and Apple Intelligence, Apple no longer wants to make the mistake of announcing features months before their release. WWDC should focus on design, not AI.
Source: Bloomberg
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