Apple has formed a new internal group called the Answers, Knowledge, and Information (AKI) team to develop its own AI-powered search system. The effort signals a shift in Apple’s AI strategy, especially after its earlier insistence that it had no plans to build a chatbot. The company now appears ready to enter the AI search race on its own terms, creating what insiders describe as a stripped-down alternative to ChatGPT.
So far, Apple Intelligence has delivered modest features like Genmoji, Notification Summaries, and writing tools, but it lacks search functionality. Siri remains inconsistent and often defers to Google or ChatGPT for basic queries. That’s a problem for Apple, especially with the Department of Justice possibly disrupting its $20 billion search deal with Google. As generative AI continues to change how people search for information, Apple risks falling behind if it doesn’t act.
Apple Builds Its Own Answer Engine
The new AKI team is led by Robby Walker, a former Siri executive who once called Siri’s delays “ugly and embarrassing.” Walker was reassigned after Apple missed its original timeline for a Siri upgrade. Now, his group is tasked with building an “answer engine” capable of crawling the web and handling general-knowledge queries. The project includes a standalone app under consideration and new backend infrastructure for future integration with Siri, Spotlight, and Safari.
Apple has posted job listings for the AKI team, calling for engineers with search engine and algorithm experience. These roles are aimed at building what Apple describes as “intuitive information experiences” across its ecosystem. It’s early in development, but the company’s direction is clear: Apple is building its own search product.
Why This Matters Now
Generative AI has changed how people interact with information. ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity have shown there’s demand for tools that go beyond keyword search. Apple initially partnered with OpenAI to bring ChatGPT into Siri, but that only highlighted the gaps in Apple’s own capabilities. Siri’s interface with ChatGPT is limited, and on devices like the HomePod, users are left with little more than redirected Google results.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman was first to report on the AKI team, noting Apple’s recent interest in partnering with Perplexity, a startup focused on AI-powered search. Gurman’s report also highlighted internal skepticism at Apple over chatbot-style tools. Despite this resistance, the company is clearly recalibrating.
Walker’s AKI team is building a response to what executives like Eddy Cue already admitted in court: AI-based search is the future. Apple’s own efforts were lagging, but that’s changing.
Apple Faces Pressure on Multiple Fronts
In addition to search, Apple’s broader AI push is struggling with talent loss. Over the last month, four senior members of Apple’s Foundation Models team, responsible for building the company’s language models left for Meta’s new superintelligence lab. The departures include the team’s founder, Ruoming Pang, and experts in multimodal AI. Meta reportedly offered higher compensation and a more ambitious roadmap.
These exits come as Apple increasingly leans on third-party models rather than its own. This weakens Apple’s control over AI development and slows progress. Meanwhile, other companies are shipping faster and attracting more talent.
Apple’s next move in AI won’t be a flashy chatbot. It will likely be a focused, Apple-style search tool that blends into the system. It’s not about matching ChatGPT feature-for-feature. It’s about control—over the search experience, over revenue, and over how users interact with information inside Apple’s walled garden. And now, Apple is finally building that in-house.
