Apple enters AI search race with ‘World Knowledge Answers’

Apple is gearing up to enter the AI-driven search race. Bloomberg reported that the company will launch a new tool, internally dubbed “World Knowledge Answers”, next year. The feature marks Apple’s most ambitious attempt yet to position Siri as a true competitor to Perplexity, ChatGPT, and Google’s AI Mode.

The system, described by insiders as an “answer engine”, will integrate into Siri, Safari, and Spotlight, allowing users to query the internet and receive responses that blend text, images, video, and local insights. Apple is also planning an AI-powered summarizer to condense information into digestible, accurate takeaways, a capability that could give Siri long-awaited relevance in the generative AI era.

To power the service, Apple has struck a deal with Google to test its custom-built AI models. These models will run on Apple’s Private Cloud Compute servers, the same infrastructure already supporting Siri queries routed to ChatGPT. While Apple had previously explored a partnership with Anthropic, negotiations reportedly collapsed over a $1.5 billion annual price tag, making Google the more viable partner.

Read More: Apple’s India revenue hits record $9 billion amid expanding retail and manufacturing push

Apple’s broader Siri revamp, codenamed “Luck E”, will rest on three pillars: a planner to interpret queries, a search system spanning web and device data, and a summarizer to generate coherent answers. The project also known internally as “Glenwood”, could debut as part of iOS 26.4, expected in March 2026.

The development signals Apple’s intent not just to modernize Siri but to carve out a stake in the emerging AI search ecosystem, where trust, speed, and accuracy are becoming key differentiators.

Read More: Apple’s four senior AI researchers quit, defect to Meta, OpenAI and Anthropic

Read More: Apple set to open Koregaon Park store in Pune on September 4. More details inside