Overview

• Apple is in early talks with OpenAI and Anthropic to train custom versions of their large language models on Apple’s Private Cloud Compute servers
• Internal evaluations have highlighted Anthropic’s Claude as the most promising option for powering a revamped Siri
• Negotiations have stalled over Anthropic’s demand for a multibillion-dollar annual licensing fee that escalates each year
• Apple’s in-house LLM Siri initiative remains active and is slated for a 2026 launch under its Apple Foundation Models strategy
• Responsibility for AI shifted from John Giannandrea to Craig Federighi and Siri oversight to Mike Rockwell, while departures like senior researcher Tom Gunter reveal team morale strains