With a dedicated unit focused on conversational AI, Apple aims to develop a ChatGPT-style search engine integrated across its ecosystem

Apple is reportedly developing a proprietary artificial intelligence-powered search experience, marking what could be its most significant push into generative AI to date. According to a Bloomberg report, the initiative is being spearheaded by a secretive internal unit known as the “Answers” team, which has been tasked with creating a ChatGPT-like conversational search tool.

The move signals Apple’s growing intent to reduce its reliance on third-party services like Google Search, and offer a more personalized, private, and integrated AI experience across its devices and services. While Apple has not officially confirmed the development, sources close to the project suggest the company is preparing for a phased rollout in the coming product cycles—potentially starting with the iPhone 17 in 2026.

The Emergence of the ‘Answers’ Team

The so-called Answers team is believed to comprise engineers and researchers from Siri, Spotlight Search, AppleBot, and its AI/ML divisions. Their core mandate is to build a conversational search interface that can respond to natural language queries across contexts—similar to how users interact with OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini.

This internal team is reportedly experimenting with large language models (LLMs) that can summarize web content, fetch answers from indexed pages, and respond to follow-up prompts in real time. The long-term goal is to create a unified Apple search interface that could span across Safari, Siri, Messages, and even third-party apps.

According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, prototypes are already being tested internally and may be integrated into select Apple platforms as early as next year, with more full-fledged deployments following in 2026.

A Strategic Shift Toward Generative AI

While Apple has been conservative in its public AI rollout compared to competitors like Google, Microsoft, and Meta, recent developments indicate a strategic shift. The company introduced a limited version of Apple Intelligence at WWDC 2025, which includes features like AI-generated summaries, writing tools, and smart notification triaging—but with tight integration to on-device processing and user privacy.

The new AI search tool would build on that framework, offering Apple users a more robust and interactive experience while keeping data within its ecosystem. Apple’s privacy-first positioning could serve as a differentiator as generative AI increasingly raises concerns about data usage, content ownership, and hallucination risks.

Reducing Dependence on Google

Apple’s push into AI search may also reflect efforts to loosen its long-standing dependence on Google Search, which currently powers Safari’s default search function in return for billions in annual payments from Google.

Should Apple launch its own AI-first search product, it could eventually renegotiate or even phase out that arrangement—an outcome that could have broader market implications, particularly as Apple devices account for a significant share of global mobile web traffic.

Search industry observers believe Apple’s eventual entry could challenge existing search norms, especially if paired with tight device-level integration and seamless user experience across Apple’s hardware and software suite.

Potential Use Cases and Deployment

While still in development, Apple's AI search engine is likely to power:

• Siri enhancements with real-time contextual answers
• Safari search augmentation, offering summaries and suggestions
• iMessage support for fact-checking or answer lookups in chats
• Spotlight integration with dynamic, AI-generated content previews

Additionally, developers may be offered APIs to integrate the conversational search into their own apps, further embedding it into the Apple ecosystem.

However, Apple will likely take a phased, tightly controlled approach—prioritizing privacy and on-device computation—before expanding AI capabilities system-wide.

Competitive Landscape and Industry Outlook

Apple’s entry into generative AI search intensifies the competition in a market dominated by Google’s Gemini, Microsoft’s Copilot (Bing), and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Each of these platforms has invested heavily in creating AI agents capable of retrieving, summarizing, and generating web content on demand.

By developing a native solution, Apple not only future-proofs its ecosystem but also offers users a potentially safer and more controlled search experience. If successful, it could redefine how billions of users search and interact with digital content on mobile devices.