Apple may have quietly acknowledged what many of us have been thinking for a while: it can’t win the AI race alone. But rather than continue to pour resources into a strategy that doesn’t work, the company appears to be doing something that might actually be smarter in the long run: letting other companies’ AI do the heavy lifting while Apple focuses on what it’s always been good at.
Apple wants to turn your iPhone into an AI hub powered by everyone but Apple.
Gemini will support most of Siri, but other chatbots can still have a home on iOS. | Image by Google
Mark Garman, Bloomberg’s chief Apple reporter, said: The latest Power On newsletter details the rethinking of Apple’s approach to AI. It’s less about Cupertino creating the smartest assistant and more about making sure the iPhone is the home for all smart assistants. The plan is It will be unveiled at WWDC on June 8th.there are two main parts. First, Apple is building “extensions” for iOS 27 that will allow AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude to be downloaded and used directly within Siri.
This is more important than just updating Siri
Let’s clarify what’s going on here. Apple essentially argues that its AI won’t be able to keep up with the competition any time soon. This is pretty far-fetched for a company that typically wants to own every part of the experience from top to bottom. The easiest way to think about this is to think about how the App Store already works. Apple makes its own apps like Mail, Maps, and Safari, but you’re free to download Gmail, Google Maps, or Chrome instead. Apple continues to make profits either way. This playbook has worked well for years.
But AI is more than just an app for swapping. As the report states, AI is becoming the next operating system, and opening the door to competitors feels like a lot more important than simply forcing people to choose another email app.
Knowing when to pivot is half the battle
I’ll be frank with you. Apple dropped the ball on AI. Siri is always delayed and lackluster Apple Intelligence features, All of these things, including internal dissatisfaction with promises that could not be kept, highlight the picture of a company that made serious efforts to realize this internally, but simply could not get there. That’s not me being harsh, it just happened. That said, did you recognize the battle you lost and switched gears instead of stubbornly pouring more into the fight? I can respect that. You have to know when to back off and move on to Plan B, and Apple’s Plan B still takes the best advantage of the hardware and ecosystem that people are already locked into.
I don’t think Apple planned this from the beginning. They got here because their initial approach didn’t work. But what about the idea of Apple vying for space on the iPhone with the best AI companies while taking a cut from everything?
This is a business model that may actually work in the long term. The real test is whether iPhone users will feel like they’re getting a truly great AI experience, or just an intermediary between the app and the user that actually does the thinking.
