A Radical Decision From Apple: Siri Opens Up to Third-Party AI Models

Apple's Closed Box Is Opening: Siri Meets Third-Party Intelligence

Apple has always been known in the tech world as a giant with "high walls around its garden." A company that has been quite stingy about opening its software, ecosystem and user experience to third parties, it has made a radical decision rarely seen in its history after struggling to keep pace with the AI revolution. According to the latest information from the industry, Apple is preparing to open its veteran assistant Siri directly to rival AI models.

The Cost of Falling Behind in the AI Race

For years, Apple argued that Siri was "smart enough" and that its privacy-focused approach was more valuable than its competitors'. But the enormous capabilities displayed by models such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Anthropic Claude thoroughly overshadowed Siri, which couldn't get beyond basic commands. Although Apple's work on its own "Apple Intelligence" platform continues, the company not having fully settled its own system at a time when its rivals break a new benchmark record every week has also brought the risk of losing users.

To turn this situation around and maintain its claim of being "the platform that offers the best AI experience," Apple is throwing Siri's doors wide open with the iOS 27 update.

iOS 27: Siri Is No Longer Just Siri

At the center of this radical decision is user freedom. An iPhone user will now be able to decide whose intelligence is the default when interacting with Siri. For example, when you ask a coding question, you will be able to have Siri use Claude Code in the background, or make use of the Google Gemini infrastructure when planning a trip.

Apple is designing this integration not just as a "redirect" but as a set of tools (an SDK) that will work fully integrated with the Siri platform. Thanks to this dedicated tooling, third-party language models will be able to access Siri's voice response system, on-device capabilities and user context directly.

The App Store Cut and the Economic Strategy

It is also very clear that Apple didn't make this decision only with the intention of "letting users use a smarter assistant." By building a dedicated tool for AI models, the company paves the way for these models to be installed via the App Store. This move serves two main goals:

1. Speed: Instead of spending years perfecting its own large language models, instantly having a "super-intelligent" environment by integrating giant models that are already available into its platform. 2. Commission: Continuing to take the standard App Store commission on the subscription spending and usage fees users pay for these third-party models.

In other words, by putting AI models into the "app" category, Apple will keep putting the money in its coffers while borrowing the intelligence from its competitors.

How Is It Different From Existing Integrations?

Apple had already opted for a limited Google Gemini integration for Siri and certain ChatGPT partnerships for Apple Intelligence. But these partnerships didn't amount to being a true "platform"; they were more about handing specific tasks off to outside services. The change expected with iOS 27 is for Siri itself to become an orchestrator, and for the user's preferred AI model to sit directly on the device as Siri's "brain."

A New Era for Apple

This strategic step back by Apple may actually be a bigger move forward. By reaching beyond its own ecosystem, Apple is turning its tradition of "hardware and software harmony" into "hardware and multi-intelligence harmony." If this integration works as smoothly as planned, the iPhone could become the world's most powerful AI platform. That's because users will no longer see the iPhone just as a phone, but as a "universal interface" offering the best physical and software access to all the giant AI models on the market.

Although Apple hasn't made an official launch yet, the leaks and activity on the developer side prove that Siri will no longer be just "a glowing ring." The last quarter of 2026 looks set to be one of the biggest turning points for the iOS ecosystem.