Apple’s Siri Overhaul: Private, Auto-Deleting AI Conversations Coming to iOS 27
iOS 27 will reportedly usher in a new, dedicated Siri app that users can jump into for a chatbot experience that will closely resemble OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude. To make it feel like a more built-in part of the operating system, users will apparently be able to swipe down from the top of the display to see a new option, "Search or Ask," that will take users into the chatbot interface.
Just as with other chatbots, Siri will seemingly rely on being able to tap into prior conversations in order to improve the user experience. As usual, this will likely bring up privacy questions, but Gurman says that Apple is hoping to put users at ease by offering an auto-delete feature that deletes conversations after 30 days or a year, with a separate option for keeping conversations forever.
The main driver behind the new and improved Siri will come thanks to Apple’s blockbuster partnership with Google, which has led to Apple’s Foundation Models adopting a lot of Google’s underlying Gemini technology. This includes tapping into some of Google’s infrastructure to answer user queries or complete other AI tasks, according to Gurman.
The decision to utilize Google-owned cloud solutions is a break from what Apple has done in the past where it relied solely on its own Private Cloud Compute, which is a bespoke system that makes use of Apple Silicon and is designed with privacy front and center. The company opted to take this route to put customers, who have certain privacy expectations, at ease when using its AI offerings. It will be interesting to see how it manages to thread the privacy needle now that Google’s infrastructure is part of the mix.
The next version of iOS is shaping up to be a consequential update, which might determine the future of Siri and Apple’s AI plans.
