Apple may sideline its own AI to power Siri with Anthropic or OpenAI models amid intensifying AI race, report claims

In a bid to keep up in the AI race it is losing, Apple is planning to use technology from Anthropic or OpenAI. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the company may be sidelining its in-house Apple Intelligence models to improve Siri, its well-known assistant that still lags behind in AI capabilities.

According to Gurman, Apple has held discussions with both companies about integrating their large language models into Siri and has requested customised versions trained to run on Apple’s cloud infrastructure for testing purposes.

Apple began evaluating third-party AI models for Siri after control of the assistant shifted from AI chief John Giannandrea to software head Craig Federighi and Vision Pro lead Mike Rockwell, following delays and underwhelming reactions to Apple Intelligence. Rockwell, now overseeing Siri engineering, tasked his team with testing whether external models like Claude, ChatGPT, or Google’s Gemini could outperform Apple’s own. According to Gurman, internal tests reportedly found Anthropic’s Claude to be the best fit, prompting Apple’s VP of corporate development, Adrian Perica, to initiate talks with the startup. Siri, which has lagged behind modern AI chatbots, has faced repeated delays in upgrades first promised for early 2025 — now pushed to spring 2026.

Anthropic PBC is a U.S.-based artificial intelligence startup founded in 2021. It has developed the Claude family of large language models, positioned as rivals to OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. Amazon is a major backer, investing a total of $8 billion in Anthropic, which was valued at $61.5 billion following its Series E funding round in March.

Apple already offers several services powered by OpenAI’s ChatGPT, including image generation and web-based query responses via Siri. However, the assistant itself remains built on Apple’s own technology. Most of Apple’s AI features are currently driven by its proprietary Apple Foundation Models, with plans for a revamped voice assistant based on this technology targeted for 2026. At WWDC 2025, the company also announced that parts of these AI models would be open sourced for developers.

Earlier this month, there were reports that Apple was considering acquiring Perplexity to bolster its AI efforts; however, Fortune India had reported that the Aravind Srinivas-led AI startup had no knowledge of the acquisition talks.

The recent news about Apple’s efforts to stay competitive in the AI race suggests that the company is acknowledging its shortcomings with in-house capabilities. Unlike last year, which was marked by bold promises, this year Apple has adopted a more cautious approach in both its promotions and commitments.

In contrast, Samsung is reportedly close to finalising a partnership with Perplexity AI, which may include both a strategic investment and integration of the startup’s technology into Galaxy devices. Perplexity’s AI-powered search and assistant features could be preloaded on future smartphones, starting with the Galaxy S26 series in early 2026. Samsung is also exploring the integration of Perplexity into its Bixby assistant and web browser, a move that could mark a shift away from relying solely on Google’s Gemini.

This reflects a broader trend where smartphone makers are no longer betting exclusively on Gemini in the AI race.