Apple unveiled a rebuilt Siri AI at WWDC 2026, turning to Google’s Gemini models to give its long criticized voice assistant a more serious role in the AI race.
The new Siri is designed to move beyond basic voice commands and behave more like a contextual AI assistant. It can understand what is on screen, answer questions based on personal context, and take actions across apps.
Apple is also giving Siri its own dedicated app, a notable break from the assistant’s old role as a floating voice interface inside iOS. The standalone experience puts Siri closer to products such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude, where users expect a full AI workspace rather than a voice shortcut.
The upgrade is expected to launch in beta later this year alongside iOS 27 and iPadOS 27. Initial support will focus on English language users, with the EU and China excluded from the first rollout because of regulatory constraints.
The most important part of the announcement is the Google partnership. Apple is using Gemini models to power the new Siri experience, while routing requests through its Private Cloud Compute infrastructure. Apple says the system is designed so user data is not stored or exposed as part of cloud based AI processing.
