Apple races to make Siri a powerful AI agent

Apple is reportedly speeding up development of a more capable, agentic version of Siri as it tries to keep pace with advanced AI assistants from OpenAI and Meta. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the push is being driven in part by CEO John Ternus, who wants Siri to do more than answer questions and set timers. The goal is an assistant that can take actions across apps and services, turning Siri into a broader interface for getting things done on Apple devices. Gurman reports that AI chief Craig Federighi delivered a functional Siri AI update quickly, but Apple is now pressing for deeper agentic abilities. That distinction matters. A functional AI update might improve Siri's responses, summarization, or language understanding. An agentic Siri would need to understand intent, plan multi-step tasks, and interact with third-party apps while respecting privacy and permissions. That is a much harder engineering and product challenge, especially on devices where users expect reliability and tight control over personal data. The effort is strategically important because Siri remains a primary interface across the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Watch, and HomePod. If Apple can make Siri a trustworthy agent, it could reshape how people use apps and services, shifting more activity toward voice and contextual prompts. It could also strengthen Apple's position in the AI assistant race, where rivals are moving quickly to build agents that can operate software on a user's behalf. The risk is equally clear: agentic features must work consistently, avoid costly mistakes, and preserve Apple's privacy story. Apple has not laid out a public timeline for the reported work, so the key question is whether it can translate the accelerated effort into a Siri experience that feels both powerful and dependable.