Apple’s New AI Frontier: Building a ChatGPT-Style Answer Engine with AKI Team
Apple is also ramping up its AI efforts, announcing a new internal division called Answers, Knowledge, and Information (AKI), which will come up with a ChatGPT-style answer engine, Bloomberg reported. This has been a turn of events after Apple has been opposed to developing in-house chatbots in the past because it wants to cut down on the use of Google’s search engine and to challenge other AI tech titans like OpenAI and Google Gemini. And at the helm of AI is John Giannandrea, one of the core creators of Siri, and under him, plans to build a system to crawl the web and give direct, conversational answers to general-knowledge questions are the AKI group led by former Siri executive Robby Walker. As Statista stated, India has mostly 900 million smartphone users and an emerging interest in AI-led functions, which would make this initiative alter how the 150 million Indian customers of Apple use Siri, Spotlight, and Safari.
The AKI project is currently in the early stages of development and could either take the form of its own app or be incorporated into the Apple ecosystem to improve services such as Siri, which will redirect complicated users to Google or ChatGPT, where they will come across significant frustrations when using Apple devices such as HomePod. Vacancies advertised by Apple in AKI are offering search-algorithm specialists, which indicates that the backend is to be revamped to accommodate natural-language processing. This corresponds to the recent announcement by CEO Tim Cook at an all-hands meeting in 2025 to invest heavily in AI and described it as “as big as the internet” (Bloomberg). This effort is sparked by such pressures as the threat of terminating the Apple and Google search agreement worth $20 billion because of U.S. antitrust concerns and the delay of the Siri overhaul, which is expected in spring 2026.
In India, the survey has it that 70 percent of urban users use voice assistants on a daily basis, according to a 2024 CMR survey, which means that an even smarter Siri would promote iPhone adoption, particularly in technology precincts of Bengaluru. But it is not without its problems: in 2025, four of Apple AI division’s best researchers left to join Meta, according to Bloomberg, and an AI leader still doubts the utility of chatbots. Users are excited with X posts, as @PrometheanAIX mentions that it will be a game-changer to the ecosystem within Apple; however, there is doubt whether the stripped-down version of Apple will be able to compete with the multi-purpose ChatGPT. Apple can grant a secure, worry-free AI search experience, and the on-device processing and privacy-centric ecosystem can achieve this goal, establishing a possible new norm among privacy-sensitive Indian consumers.
Disclaimer
The information presented in this blog is derived from publicly available sources for general use, including any cited references. While we strive to mention credible sources whenever possible, Web Techneeq – Web Development Agency in Mumbai does not guarantee the accuracy of the information provided in any way. This article is intended solely for general informational purposes. It should be understood that it does not constitute legal advice and does not aim to serve as such. If any individual(s) make decisions based on the information in this article without verifying the facts, we explicitly reject any liability that may arise as a result. We recommend that readers seek separate guidance regarding any specific information provided here.