Overview

• Apple has formed an internal AI team called “Answers, Knowledge and Information” (AKI) under Robby Walker to build its own answer engine for Siri, Spotlight and Safari.
• CEO Tim Cook convened an all-hands meeting stressing that AI is paramount and confirmed Apple’s openness to multibillion-dollar acquisitions to speed its AI roadmap.
• The company is planning a ground-up overhaul of Siri’s architecture with its proprietary AI answer engine slated for release in early 2026.
• Apple warned analysts that its roughly $20 billion default-search revenue from Google may vanish under antitrust pressure, prompting work on in-house and third-party search alternatives.
• In recent months, Apple has hired about 12,000 employees—40 percent in research and development—to strengthen its internal AI capabilities.