Apple's AI strategy pivot: dismantling Siri to rebuild the "Answers" team: creating a small ChatGPT-like product.

Apple has quietly formed the "Answers" team, shifting towards self-developed generative AI to bring a new transformation that deeply integrates with Siri and the search experience. (Background: Apple allows Bitcoin! iOS game Sarutobi goes live on the App Store: players can buy items and earn Sats using the Lightning Network.) (Supplementary background: Is Apple abandoning AI? Considering skinning ChatGPT or Claude to upgrade Siri, salvaging its lagging self-developed progress.) Apple has always emphasized "not seeking to be first, but to be the best." In the summer of 2025, it finally pressed the AI acceleration button. According to a Bloomberg report on August 3, Apple has secretly formed the "Answers, Knowledge, and Information" team (abbreviated as AKI), aiming to create an "answer engine" that competes with ChatGPT. This internal project signals Apple's transition from relying on external technology to fully self-developing, laying a new AI foundation for future devices like the iPhone, Mac, and Vision Pro. From collaboration to self-development: a major turnaround in Apple's AI strategy. Over the past year, Apple collaborated with OpenAI to embed ChatGPT capabilities into Siri. However, considering the realities of talent flow and core technology control, Apple decided to reclaim leadership. The AKI team has posted several job openings on its official recruitment page, specifically naming talents skilled in search algorithms and engine development, focusing on "how to find and present information to users faster and more accurately," rather than just the superficial glamour of language generation. Apple CEO Tim Cook recently spoke about future investment directions, stating: "The company plans to significantly increase AI investments and personnel to enhance 'Apple Intelligence' capabilities, with improved AI assistant experiences expected to launch as early as early 2026." This statement resonates with AKI's recruitment messages and indirectly confirms that "Answers" will become one of the core infrastructures of Apple's product line. What will "Answers" look like? A global enhancement from Siri to Spotlight. Insiders indicate that AKI's mission is to "assist users in obtaining world knowledge within the Apple ecosystem." In other words, the answer engine may not necessarily appear as a standalone app, but is more likely to be deeply integrated into Siri, Safari, Spotlight, Messages, and even the system-level Apple Intelligence. When users pose questions on their iPhone or Mac, the AI must not only understand but also immediately perform data retrieval on the device or in the cloud, delivering concise and credible answers. Leading the AKI team are Robby Walker and Mike Rockwell, who have accumulated extensive experience in the Siri and Vision Pro projects, reporting to Apple's AI chief, John Giannandrea. The team has particularly highlighted two key points in its technical blueprint: "privacy" and "integration"—algorithms should compute locally as much as possible, with cloud access only when necessary; the presentation of answers should seamlessly fit the iOS and macOS interface, maintaining a consistent user experience. The latecomer's chips: Can the latecomer advantage rewrite the market? Faced with the first-mover advantages of companies like Google, OpenAI, and Meta in the generative AI landscape, Apple has been slow to act. However, as the world's highest market capitalization company, with hardware and software handled in-house, Apple has three unique advantages. First, over a billion active devices provide a vast real-time user base for new AI features; second, Apple's self-developed M-series chips and iPhone A-series already have efficient AI accelerators for edge-side inference. Finally, the long-accumulated image of privacy and security makes users more willing to entrust their personalized data to Apple. Once the answer engine matures, the most directly affected could be Google Search and third-party assistant services. If users can obtain immediate, accurate, and traceable information through Spotlight searches or Siri Q&A, the motivation to switch to a browser for queries will be weakened, thus shaking the existing business models of the search market. Key observation points: The final mile from "usable" to "easy to use." In terms of timeline, the AKI project is still in its early stages, with full deployment likely needing several quarters or even over a year. However, recruitment actions and organizational structures are already in place, indicating Apple's determination for this project. What remains to be seen is how Apple can enhance inference speed while maintaining edge-side computation and how it can translate AI capabilities into invisible support for daily work and entertainment through human-computer interface design. The competition in generative AI has always emphasized speed, but for Apple, finding the most suitable balance among hardware, software, and services is more critical. When the answer engine is finally pushed to global devices with the next generation of software updates, the market will be able to truly assess whether "latecomer" equates to "better." Apple's choice to sound the drums of self-developed AI at this moment means the company is ready for long-term investment. This new battle over privacy, integration, and intelligence has just begun. Related reports: The youngest Chinese astronaut! Sun Yuchen makes his first trip to space, opening a new chapter in blockchain. Sun Yuchen reappears on the cover of Asia Weekly after 14 years, predicting "Bitcoin will challenge the dollar hegemony within 10 years." The mystery of Sun Yuchen in the eyes of foreigners: that man ate a $6.2 million banana. <Apple's AI strategy turns around: dismantling Siri to rebuild the 'Answers' team: creating a small ChatGPT-like product> This article was first published in BlockTempo, the most influential blockchain news media.