Apple Inc. (AAPL, Financial) is reportedly in talks with Anthropic and OpenAI to integrate their language models into Siri, potentially marking a strategic shift from its in-house AI development. Apple has asked both companies to train custom versions of their models to operate on Apple's cloud infrastructure. This move could signify a major change from Apple's current reliance on its self-developed Apple Foundation Models, originally planned for a 2026 Siri upgrade.
Following the news, Apple shares rose over 2%, indicating investor optimism about the potential collaboration. Internal evaluations led by Siri team head Mike Rockwell and software engineering chief Craig Federighi found Anthropic's Claude technology to best meet Siri's needs, prompting initial negotiations with Anthropic. However, financial disagreements have surfaced, with Anthropic seeking substantial annual fees, leading Apple to consider OpenAI as an alternative.
Apple is exploring multiple options, maintaining contact with both Anthropic and OpenAI. Currently, Apple's AI strategy uses a dual model architecture, with device-side models handling lighter tasks and cloud-based models managing more complex operations. Despite potential changes, Apple remains committed to its self-developed models for core device and developer use cases, with significant budget allocations planned for 2026.