Zhidongxi reported on August 4th that over the past three days, Apple's moves in the AI field have been intensively exposed. Yesterday, Bloomberg reported that Apple has formed a new team called "Answers, Knowledge and Information" (AKI), which is developing a search engine similar to ChatGPT to make up for Siri and Apple Intelligence's lack of conversational search capabilities.
On August 1st, Apple held a rare company-wide meeting where CEO Tim Cook directly responded to AI challenges, stating that Apple "has some exciting plans". In the previous earnings call, Cook also emphasized that the iPhone will remain the center of future ecosystems.
While Apple is launching a new team and stating its AI strategy, market competitive pressure is also intensifying. Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently released a "Personal Superintelligence" vision, claiming that AI glasses may replace smartphones and directly challenge the iPhone's core position.
01. Apple Launches "Answers" Plan to Fill AI Search Gaps
The "Answers, Knowledge and Information (AKI)" team that Apple is forming aims to create an "Answer Engine" with web crawling and knowledge answering capabilities.
The team is led by former Siri head Robby Walker, reporting directly to Apple's AI head John Giannandrea. Robby Walker previously led Siri but lost control of the project due to engineering delays and was subsequently assigned to the "Answers" plan, bringing along some former Siri team members.
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Former Siri head Robby Walker and Apple's AI head John Giannandrea (Source: Bloomberg)
The AKI team is exploring standalone applications and building search infrastructure for Siri, Spotlight, and Safari. Apple's job postings indicate that the project requires search algorithm and engine development experience, noting that it will provide an "intuitive information experience" for core products like Siri, Spotlight, Safari, and Messages.
Last year, Apple released its AI platform Apple Intelligence and integrated ChatGPT into Siri through a partnership with OpenAI. At the time, company executives repeatedly emphasized they would not develop their own chatbot and were even skeptical of ChatGPT-style products' market value.
However, the reality is that such products have become core tools for hundreds of millions of global users, covering various uses from mathematical calculations and spreadsheet processing to creative brainstorming, and have even replaced traditional engines in search experiences. In comparison, Apple Intelligence remains limited to notification summaries, text rewriting, Genmoji generation, photo cleaning, and planned message and call translation functions that do not involve search capabilities.
Moreover, Siri's performance remains unstable: it can handle some simple queries but often redirects complex searches to ChatGPT's simplified interface or directly to Google search. For users of screenless devices like HomePod, this experience is particularly awkward.
Apple's dependence on Google search also faces risks. The US Department of Justice is expected to intervene in Apple and Google's search revenue-sharing agreement (annual revenue of about $20 billion), which could impact Apple's service revenue. Apple's services head Eddy Cue has already testified in court that "AI search is the future" and revealed they are exploring partnerships including Perplexity.
02. Zuckerberg Claims AI Will Disrupt iPhone, Cook Responds Strongly
Unlike Apple's slow AI progress, Zuckerberg is openly challenging the iPhone's "digital world gatekeeper" status.
In his "manifesto", Zuckerberg proposed the "Personal Superintelligence" concept: using AI glasses with visual, auditory, and contextual understanding capabilities to replace smartphones as the "primary computing device". Meta has invested heavily in this, even offering $100 million salaries to poach top AI talent.
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Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg
Zuckerberg stated: "Once you add a display to the lens, you can interact with AI in a multimodal way all day. It can see the content around you, generate interfaces, and provide real-time help." Currently, Meta's smart glasses still depend on smartphones, but their product roadmap points towards independent operation.
Meanwhile, Amazon has acquired the wearable device startup Bee, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is collaborating with former Apple chief designer Jony Ive to develop a new AI hardware aimed at becoming the "third core device after computers and smartphones".
After Zuckerberg's "manifesto", Cook countered the "post-smartphone" narrative in Apple's earnings call: "When you think about everything the iPhone can do - connecting people, presenting apps and games, taking photos, exploring the world, managing finances and payments - it's hard to imagine a world without the iPhone." He added: "This doesn't mean we're not considering other devices, but these devices might be complementary, not replacements."
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CEO Tim Cook
03. Rare Company-Wide Meeting: Cook and Executives Respond to AI Doubts
On August 1st, Apple held a rare company-wide meeting covering AI investment and future plans. Cook maintained a confident tone, saying: "We have some exciting plans" but cannot reveal details yet.
According to insider employees, many staff asked about Siri's future, and software engineering senior vice president Craig Federighi candidly admitted: "This is the most frequently asked question recently".
This meeting comes after many years since Apple's last company-wide gathering. Despite AI progress being questioned, the company delivered impressive results in the just-concluded June quarter: iPhone sales grew 13% year-on-year, the best performance in years.
04. Conclusion: Can "Answers" Solve Apple's Future?
Apple is accelerating to fill its AI search gaps, with the "Answers" plan first indicating its intention to independently build a ChatGPT-like "answer engine". However, competitors like Meta, Amazon, and OpenAI are already exploring new forms in the "post-smartphone" era, attempting to reshape interaction through AI hardware.
Cook believes the iPhone will remain the core device, but he also acknowledges that the space for "complementary devices" is opening up. The key future question is: Will Apple complete its self-iteration through self-developed AI, or be forced to reshape its ecosystem in competition?
This article is from the WeChat public account "Zhidongxi", author: Jiang Yu, editor: Mo Ying, published by 36Kr with authorization.
