Apple’s new internal team, “Answers, Knowledge and Information,” is apparently developing a ChatGPT-like search tool. It will reportedly use an “answer engine’ that will crawl the web to answer simple search querries.
The tool is still in the early stages of development, so it won’t go live anytime soon.
Apple begins work on a ChatGPT-like search
Google, OpenAI, and Microsoft each offer an AI-powered chatbot designed to quickly answer general user search queries. This has played a key role in changing the search landscape dramatically. Apple, however, is not in the race, as Apple Intelligence does not offer any search capabilities. Instead, Apple hands over such tasks to ChatGPT.
With AI-powered search set to change the future of search for good, Apple is now working on its own “answer engine.”
Led by Robby Walker, the Answers, Knowledge and Information team “is exploring a number of in-house AI services with the goal of creating a new ChatGPT-like search experience,” reports Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman in the August 3rd edition of his Power On newsletter.
The team directly reports to John Giannandrea, Apple’s current AI head. Walker previously spearheaded Siri but was reassigned to the AKI team after the failed Siri 2.0 rollout.
Answer engine will power search on other Apple products
The “answer engine” system will reportedly crawl the web to respond to common user questions. The company may launch it as a standalone app, with the same backend eventually powering search results across Siri, Spotlight, and Safari.
Gurman says to think of the tool as a “stripped-down” ChatGPT search experience.
Apple is also hiring engineers with experience in search algorithms and engine development for the team.
Apple Intelligence significantly trails rival AI platforms by a wide margin. It can only hope that the revamped Siri and Answers Engine help it get back in the game.
