Apple has always emphasized "not being the first, but being the best," and in the summer of 2025, they finally pressed the AI acceleration button. According to Bloomberg on August 3rd, Apple has secretly assembled the "Answers, Knowledge, and Information" team (abbreviated as AKI), aiming to create an "answer engine" that competes with ChatGPT. This internal project marks Apple's shift from relying on external technology to comprehensive self-research, laying a new AI foundation for future iPhone, Mac, Vision Pro, and other devices.
From Collaboration to Self-Research: Apple's Major AI Strategy Reversal
In the past year, Apple collaborated with OpenAI to embed ChatGPT capabilities into Siri. However, considering talent mobility and core technology control, Apple decided to take back the initiative. The AKI team has already posted multiple job openings on the official recruitment website, specifically seeking talents skilled in search algorithms and engine development, focusing on "how to find and explain information faster and more accurately" rather than just superficial language generation.
Apple CEO Tim Cook recently discussed future investment directions:
"The company plans to significantly increase AI investment and personnel to enhance 'Apple Intelligence' features, with an improved AI assistant experience expected to be launched as early as early 2026."
These words echo the AKI recruitment information and indirectly confirm that "Answers" will become one of the core infrastructure of Apple's product line.
What Does 'Answers' Look Like? Full Domain Enhancement from Siri to Spotlight
Insiders indicate that AKI's mission is to "help users obtain world knowledge within the Apple ecosystem." In other words, the answer engine may not appear as a standalone app but is more likely to be deeply integrated into Siri, Safari, Spotlight, Messages, and even system-level Apple Intelligence. When users ask questions on iPhone or Mac, AI should not only understand but also immediately retrieve data on the device or cloud, providing concise and credible answers.
AKI's leaders, Robby Walker and Mike Rockwell, have accumulated rich experience in Siri and Vision Pro projects and report to Apple's AI head, John Giannandrea. The team's technical blueprint particularly emphasizes two key points: "privacy" and "integration" - algorithms should run locally as much as possible, with cloud computing used only when necessary; answer presentation should seamlessly match iOS and macOS interfaces, maintaining a consistent user experience.
The Late Comer's Chip: Can Late Mover Advantage Rewrite the Market?
Facing the first-mover advantage of companies like Google, OpenAI, and Meta in the generative AI landscape, Apple's response has been slow. However, as the world's highest market-cap tech giant with both hardware and software in-house, Apple possesses three unique advantages. First, over a billion active devices provide a massive instant user base for new AI features. Second, Apple's self-developed M-series and iPhone A-series chips already have high-performance AI accelerators for edge-side inference. Lastly, years of accumulated privacy and security reputation make users more willing to entrust personalized data to Apple.
Once the answer engine matures, the most direct impact could be on Google Search and third-party assistant services. If users can obtain real-time, precise, and source-traceable information through Spotlight search or Siri Q&A, their motivation to switch to browser queries will be weakened, potentially challenging the existing search market's business model.
Observation Point: The Last Mile from 'Usable' to 'Good to Use'
In terms of timeline, the AKI project is still in its early stages, requiring several months or even over a year for full deployment. However, the recruitment actions and organizational structure are already in place, demonstrating Apple's determination. What's worth watching next is how Apple will improve inference speed while maintaining device-side computing and how to transform AI capabilities into invisible assistance for daily work and entertainment through human-machine interface design.
The generative AI race has always been about speed, but for Apple, finding the most suitable balance between hardware, software, and services is more critical. When the answer engine is finally pushed to global devices through the next software update, the market will truly be able to assess whether "late" means "better".
Apple's choice to sound the drum for self-developed AI at this moment means the company is prepared for long-term investment. This new battle about privacy, integration, and intelligence has just begun.
