Apple reportedly building AI chatbot, search team to rival ChatGPT, Perplexity

Apple is pivoting into AI search with a newly-formed internal team, aiming to build its own ChatGPT-style search experience. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple has assembled the “Answers, Knowledge, and Information” (AKI) team to lead this effort, marking a shift from the company’s earlier reluctance to develop chatbot-like services.

This move comes as Apple Intelligence has stumbled out of the gate. Features like Genmoji and Notification Summaries haven’t exactly wowed users, while the highly-anticipated Siri revamp has been delayed by over a year. Frustrations over Siri’s slow progress were aired internally earlier this year, when Robby Walker, a former Siri executive now leading the AKI team, reportedly called the delays “ugly and embarrassing.”

Apple’s AI ambitions, however, have been bubbling beneath the surface. The company has been in discussions with AI search startups like Perplexity, known for its conversational search engine approach. But the formation of AKI signals that Apple is now serious about building something in-house.

The AKI team is tasked with developing AI-powered services that deliver more intelligent, conversational search capabilities within Apple’s ecosystem. While it’s still early days and no launch timelines are set, the company appears intent on carving out its own space in the AI search race—especially as rivals like Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Perplexity advance rapidly.