Apple now looking to rival ChatGPT with a new in-house ‘Answers’ team: report – 9to5Mac
According to the latest edition of Mark Gurman’s Power On newsletter, Apple has a new plan up its sleeve to rival the competition in the AI search space. This is a major pivot from Apple’s previous stance, where the company said it didn’t want to develop a chatbot.
Apple Intelligence has been off to a rocky start, to say the least. The abilities that have shipped, such as Genmoji and Notification Summaries, haven’t exactly been stellar. Apple has still failed to ship its all-new Siri, and has since delayed its launch by over a year.
Apple would like to change that, though. Earlier this year, they formed a new “Answers, Knowledge, and Information” team internally, per Bloomberg:
Despite philosophical reservations among some Apple leaders, the company is clearly heading in that direction. Earlier this year, Apple quietly formed a new team called Answers, Knowledge and Information, or AKI. This group, I’m told, is exploring a number of in-house AI services with the goal of creating a new ChatGPT-like search experience.
In the past, Apple has expressed interest in working with AI startups like Perplexity, which almost exclusively specializes in an AI search engine experience, so this news isn’t exactly a shock. Per the report, the new team is led by Robby Walker, a former Siri executive who previously lost control after this year’s delays.
For context, Robby Walker held a widely reported on meeting this year where he called the Siri delays ‘ugly and embarrassing.’
t feels like this site continues to recycle the same talking points regarding Apple Intelligence, suggesting it’s off to a “rocky start.” But is that really the case?
The commentary seems narrowly focused on features like Siri and summaries, overlooking the broader capabilities Apple Intelligence offers. Personally, I use features like the rewording, rewriting, and summarizing tools daily—and they work exceptionally well. Yet, I rarely see coverage highlighting their effectiveness.
Dismissing tools like Genmoji because they may not appeal to certain demographics ignores the fact that these features are meaningful to others. With hundreds of millions of iPhones in use, a range of features will naturally appeal to different users.
The article’s framing—highlighting only Genmoji and vacation summaries as examples—feels selective and incomplete. That kind of omission presents an imbalanced view and, frankly, borders on misleading.
Then again, this is a blog, not traditional journalism—so perhaps expectations for depth and accuracy should be adjusted accordingly.
Given the fact that this effort just started, it’ll likely be a while before we see the results of it. That said, it’s still exciting to hear that Apple is working on an AI search experience of sorts. I personally find that quite useful.
What do you think about the possibility of Apple launching an AI search experience? Is this something that excites you? Let us know in the comments.
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Michael is 9to5Mac’s Weekend Editor, keeping up with all of the latest Apple news on Saturday and Sunday. He got started in the world of Apple news during the pandemic, and it became a growing hobby. He’s also an indie iOS developer in his free time, and has published numerous apps over the years.
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