Apple says its new AI Siri will be ‘fundamentally different’ from Chat GPT and Gemini — but WWDC could be a make-or-break moment | Tech Radar

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Apple says its new AI Siri will be ‘fundamentally different’ from Chat GPT and Gemini — but WWDC could be a make-or-break moment

Apple may finally have a unique AI strategy — but WWDC needs to prove Siri is ready

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Apple will reveal an AI-powered Siri update at its WWDC show in June

The company will push privacy as its AI differentiator, a new report claims

But the new features might be labeled 'betas', despite arriving two years late

As Apple struggles to catch up in the AI race, the company may finally have found a way to make Siri stand out from rivals like Chat GPT and Gemini — by making it more private, not more powerful.

With Apple gearing up for its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 8, the tech world is wondering how the Cupertino giant is planning to close the gap between itself and its artificial intelligence (AI) rivals. One way, according to a new report, is to stick with something that has always helped Apple stand out from the crowd — but there’s a notable catch to the plans.

Apple set WWDC for June 8 and this may be its last chance to fix Siri and give us the AI we want

Apple may add AI chatbots that run ‘inside Siri’ — here's why that's concerning

One way Apple could do this, Gurman believes, is through building disappearing messages into its revamped Siri virtual assistant. The i OS 27 update that’s set to debut at WWDC will put Siri in a standalone app for the first time, and this app could automatically delete any prompts that you send to Siri. The options will be to keep messages for 30 days, one year or forever; if you select one of the first two choices, Siri will remove your conversations without you having to lift a finger. That could protect you from data leaks and your private info being used to train an AI model.

Apple will also “place tighter limits around how [Siri’s] memory works,” Gurman says, “including restrictions on what information can persist and how long it can be retained.” Apple’s stance is that settings like this should be “built into the system itself,” according to Gurman, rather than being an optional extra as with rival AI systems from the likes of Meta and Open AI.

The new Siri may emerge with ‘unfinished’ features

Auto-deleting messages are not the only new AI feature due to arrive at WWDC. There’s a whole Siri revamp in the works that should see features announced way back in 2024 finally make it to users’ i Phones. Yet even that two-year delay might not be enough, Gurman warns.

Writing in Power On, Gurman explains that Apple might frame the refreshed Siri as a beta version come WWDC. The reporter adds that “there is a strong chance that this approach will be used in developer beta versions and even when i OS 27 ships this fall.” That’s because Gurman has been informed by his sources that test versions of i OS 27 contain the beta labels for Siri. Given that we are less than a month away from WWDC, those flags could remain when the operating system is unveiled in June.

Proclaiming the upgraded Siri to be in its beta phase would signal to users that the new features are still “unfinished,” Gurman says, and it’s hard to argue with that assessment. With Apple’s competitors pushing further and further ahead in the world of AI, this year’s WWDC will be crucial for Apple to show it has what it takes to hold its own. If the new AI Siri spends too long as a beta, it will be increasingly difficult for the company to do that.

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Alex Blake has been fooling around with computers since the early 1990s, and since that time he's learned a thing or two about tech. No more than two things, though. That's all his brain can hold. As well as Tech Radar, Alex writes for i More, Digital Trends and Creative Bloq, among others. He was previously commissioning editor at Mac Format magazine. That means he mostly covers the world of Apple and its latest products, but also Windows, computer peripherals, mobile apps, and much more beyond. When not writing, you can find him hiking the English countryside and gaming on his PC.

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