Apple is expected to unveil a new artificial intelligence (AI) strategy at its developer conference as the company aims to catch up with its rivals. New AI features and an improved Siri are on the cards for the keynote presentation on Monday at the Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC), in what could be Tim Cook’s last official keynote as chief executive. The company has named current senior vice-president of hardware John Ternus as Cook’s successor. Apple will also unveil new software for its iPhone, iPad, Mac, watches and TV products at the event, although the company is expected to focus on features and reliability rather than undertaking any major design features. The focus is expected to be on Siri, which has been a feature of Apple’s software since 2011. However, recent developments with AI chatbots have seen the digital assistant fall behind. “The virtual assistant has been a thorn in Apple’s side for several years, and after the misfire in 2024 when the company made some big promises but had to backtrack a year later, it seems inevitable that Apple will rebound with a major update at WWDC 2026″ said Ben Wood, chief analyst at FDM CCS Insight. “This will undoubtedly be pitched together with a slew of agentic AI capabilities, as seems to be the dominant trend this year.”Among the changes that analysts are watching for are further Siri integration into specific apps and functions, and extended access to AI functions for third-party developers. Apple could also support further third-party models beyond its OpenAI deal. [ Who is Apple’s new chief executive John Ternus?Opens in new window ]“The elephant in the room will be Apple’s partnership with Google, which was announced in January 2026,” said Wood. “We strongly doubt that Apple will position the development as being ‘Siri powered by Gemini’, but Google’s foundational models are sure to play an important role.”Analysts have also pointed to the significant trove of personal data that iPhone users have saved to their devices and in the cloud, from emails and messages to photographs and notes, that could be mined to help make Siri more useful at carrying out tasks. “They have to make Siri not suck, but Apple also has to put the framework together of how their ⁠developers can take advantage of AI themselves,” said Patrick Moorhead, founder ​of tech consulting firm Moor Insights & Strategy. “It sounds kind of boring, but AI is ​all about data, because data is what creates context and what creates better results.”David McRedmond: ‘O’Connell Street needs high density housing’ Listen | 50:36However, to do so, Apple would have to persuade users that their data would remain secure. The company has consistently pushed its privacy credentials as a selling point of its ecosystem. “I’ve always felt that Apple has a strong opportunity to use the immense amount of personal data securely stored on a user’s iPhone. Crucially, some people will have owned several generations of iPhones, with all the data being seamlessly passed from one device to the next and, in most cases, backed up to iCloud,” said Wood. “Apple could mine that data to deliver some impressive results. Furthermore, in classic Apple fashion, we bet this will be delivered with a focus on privacy and on-device processing.”While Nvidia and Microsoft this year have spent ‌time trying to tame OpenClaw, a technology that can direct an army of AI agents on a personal computer to log into a user’s online services and carry out tasks for business users, ​Ben Bajarin, chief executive of tech consultancy Creative Strategies, does not expect Apple to follow suit just yet. Bajarin said he ​does not expect Apple to put much emphasis on emerging technologies like OpenClaw, which still have potential security issues.“It’s way too early for the consumer,” Bajarin said. “Honestly, I’m not even sure businesses are ready for this in an uncontrolled context.” – Additional reporting: Reuters