Apple forms new "Answers" team to build ChatGPT rival, after CEO Tim Cook says company 'rarely been…"
has quietly established a new internal team called "Answers, Knowledge and Information" (AKI) that is developing a ChatGPT-like search experience, according to Bloomberg. The team is building what it calls an "answer engine" capable of crawling the web to respond to general-knowledge questions, potentially offering Apple's first serious challenge to existing AI chatbots.
When Apple introduced its AI platform last year, executives made clear there wouldn't be an in-house chatbot, instead partnering with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into Siri. Since then, Apple's software and marketing leaders have argued that consumer interest in chatbots is limited, with some AI group leaders expressing skepticism about ChatGPT-style tools altogether, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. However, the reality that these products serve hundreds of millions globally for tasks ranging from math and spreadsheets to simple search has apparently prompted the company's change of direction.
The AKI team, led by senior director Robby Walker under AI chief John Giannandrea, is exploring both a standalone app and new backend infrastructure to power search capabilities in future versions of Siri, Spotlight, and Safari. Apple has begun advertising job openings specifically seeking candidates with experience in search algorithms and engine development.
Apple CEO Tim Cook rallies employees around AI investment strategy
At a rare all-hands meeting last week, CEO Tim Cook told employees that Apple "must do this" and "will make the investment to do it," calling the AI revolution "as big or bigger" than the internet, smartphones, and cloud computing. Cook acknowledged Apple's typical approach of entering markets later but creating defining products, telling staff: "We've rarely been first. There was a PC before the Mac; there was a smartphone before the iPhone... This is how I feel about AI."
The move comes as Apple faces pressure on multiple fronts. The company's $20 billion annual deal with Google for default search could be disrupted by antitrust action, while Apple Intelligence currently lacks the conversational search capabilities available from ChatGPT or Google's Gemini.
Software heads details Siri overhaul delay
Software chief Craig Federighi addressed the company's delayed Siri upgrade during the meeting, explaining that Apple initially planned a "hybrid architecture" combining current Siri capabilities with large language models. "We realized that approach wasn't going to get us to Apple quality," Federighi said, according to Bloomberg.
Instead, Apple is now developing an entirely new architecture for all of Siri's capabilities, with Vision Pro creator Mike Rockwell and his team taking charge of the assistant's development. The revamped Siri is expected as early as spring 2026.
The Answers team is Apple's most concrete step toward competing directly with ChatGPT, potentially offering users AI-powered search without relying on external partnerships like its current ChatGPT integration.
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