Apple to Unveil AI Chatbot ‘Campos’ as Siri’s Replacement by 2026
CALIFORNIA – Apple intends to transform its digital assistant, Siri, by introducing it as the company’s inaugural artificial intelligence chatbot, targeting a launch in 2026.
This bold move positions the iPhone manufacturer into the competitive arena of generative AI, currently dominated by powerhouses OpenAI and Google.
The forthcoming chatbot, referred to internally as Campos, will be intricately woven into the operating systems of the iPhone, iPad, and Mac, effectively replacing the conventional Siri interface, as indicated by sources privy to the initiative.
Users will summon this new service via familiar commands: either by saying “Siri” or pressing the side button on their iPhone or iPad.
This revised functionality is expected to exceed the capabilities of the existing Siri, which notably lacks the conversational depth and interactive qualities found in OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini.
Campos is poised to be a linchpin in Apple’s strategy to regain its footing in the AI domain, where it has struggled to keep pace with its Silicon Valley competitors. The Apple Intelligence platform, which launched in 2024, encountered challenges with features that were often subpar or slow to materialize.
Prior to Campos, a standard Siri update retaining the current interface is slated for iOS 26.4, anticipated in the coming months. This upgrade aims to incorporate previously unveiled capabilities, such as on-screen content analysis and enhanced web searching abilities.
The revolutionary chatbot technology is expected to debut in June during Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, with a public release planned for September 2026, according to anonymous sources familiar with the plans.
Campos will incorporate both voice and text input modes, marking its primary enhancement in Apple’s succeeding operating systems: iOS 27 and iPadOS 27, codenamed Rave, alongside macOS 27, internally known as Fizz.
Apart from featuring the chatbot interface, the forthcoming operating systems will largely focus on performance improvements and bug fixes. The extensive design overhaul implemented in 2025 unified the aesthetic across Apple’s platforms.
Internally, Apple is exploring the chatbot technology as a standalone Siri application, akin to alternatives like ChatGPT and Gemini accessible in the App Store. However, this version is not meant for consumer distribution; the aim remains integration within the existing operating environments, mirroring the current Siri functionality.
An Apple spokesperson declined to provide comments on this development.
The adoption of a chatbot-centric approach signifies a pivotal strategic shift for Apple, which for long has downplayed the conversational AI solutions popularized by competitors such as OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft.
Executives at Apple have maintained that users prefer integrated AI features, as evidenced in tools like Genmoji, writing aids, and notification summaries, rather than isolated chat experiences.
Craig Federighi, senior vice-president of software engineering, articulated in a June interview that the pursuit of a chatbot had not been a primary objective for the company.
However, as competitors like Samsung Electronics and Chinese smartphone manufacturers deploy conversational AI more broadly within their ecosystems, Apple risks lagging further behind.
With ChatGPT already surpassing 800 million active users weekly as of October 2025, the urgency for a proprietary chatbot has escalated.
Moreover, OpenAI is emerging as a formidable competitor to Apple by transforming its software into an AI operating system and launching new devices under the guidance of former Apple design chief Jony Ive.
The situation is further complicated by OpenAI’s recent recruitment of numerous Apple engineers, prompting concerns among Apple’s executives regarding a potential threat to their core business.
Similar to ChatGPT and Google Gemini, Apple’s upcoming chatbot will enable users to conduct online searches, create content, generate images, summarize information, and analyze uploaded files. Additionally, it will utilize personal data to facilitate tasks, effortlessly locating files, songs, calendar entries, and messages.
Distinctively, the chatbot aims to engage with open windows and on-screen content to propose actions or commands. It will also possess the capability to manipulate device settings, such as making calls, setting timers, or launching the camera.
Moreover, Siri will become embedded across all of Apple’s essential applications, including mail, music, podcasts, TV, Xcode programming software, and photos, greatly expanding its vocal capabilities.
For instance, users could instruct Siri to locate a photo based on its content description and modify it according to specific preferences. Alternatively, within the email application, Siri could be prompted to draft a message regarding upcoming calendar events.
With Campos, Apple may also phase out its Spotlight functionality, a feature enabling users to search device content and limited information like sports scores and weather updates.
There are ongoing discussions regarding the extent to which the chatbot will retain user memory. While platforms like ChatGPT and others maintain comprehensive interaction histories for personalized experiences, Apple may limit this capability to prioritize user privacy.
Designed with a user-friendly interface, the chatbot will rely significantly on an AI model developed by the Google Gemini team, a partnership first revealed by Bloomberg News in 2025.
The preceding update to Siri will utilize an internally-developed Google system, referred to as Apple Foundation Models version 10, operating at 1.2 trillion parameters— a metric indicative of AI complexity.
In contrast, Campos is expected to leverage a more advanced version of the custom Google model, comparable to Gemini 3, identified internally as Apple Foundation Models version 11.
In what could represent a policy pivot, discussions are underway about hosting the chatbot on Google servers equipped with powerful tensor processing units, while the previous Siri update will operate on Apple’s Private Cloud Compute servers utilizing advanced Mac chips.
Annually, Apple allocates approximately $1 billion to Google for access to these models, with potential plans to utilize Google’s technology for enhancing existing Apple Intelligence functionalities.
Notably, Apple is designing Campos to allow for the replacement of its underlying models, granting the company the flexibility to shift away from Google systems in the future if necessary.
Furthermore, Apple has conducted testing of the chatbot utilizing Chinese AI models, indicating aspirations to launch the feature in China, where Apple Intelligence is currently unavailable.
Both the forthcoming Siri upgrade and Campos will incorporate a function termed World Knowledge Answers, as first reported by Bloomberg in September 2025. This feature will offer web-summarized responses akin to those from Perplexity and ChatGPT, complete with citations.
Indications of Apple’s transition towards chatbot technology emerged recently when the company developed an internal application dubbed Veritas that allowed the new Siri engine to function as a text-based chatbot interface. This app was purely for testing and is not set for public release.
This strategic realignment coincides with leadership transitions within Apple, including the removal of long-serving AI chief John Giannandrea in December 2025, with Mr. Federighi consolidating authority over Apple’s AI initiatives.
The company has also welcomed Mr. Amar Subramanya as a vice-president of AI, reporting directly to Mr. Federighi. He previously played a pivotal role in engineering for Gemini at Google.
Source link: Straitstimes.com.
