Amid continued setbacks, Apple is turning to an internal chatbot app, Veritas, to help reshape Siri's future.
Apple's Siri saga continues, though the company has been fairly quiet on the matter as of late. After repeated delays, apologies, and at least one change in management, it seems like Apple may finally be getting the ball rolling.
Apple's AI team has created a new ChatGPT-like iPhone app, designed to test and prepare for the "new, improved Siri." The new version, which was first slated to release in early 2025, is now set to roll out in 2026.
The software is code-named Veritas, which is Latin for truth, according to Bloomberg. Allegedly, the app is for internal use only — at least for now.
Veritas doesn't behave like Siri. Instead, it behaves more like a chatbot, referencing past chats, following up on earlier queries, and supporting longer back-and-forth conversations.
This format lets Apple's AI team test new features quickly and with minimal friction. The approach streamlines experimentation without slowing development.
Right now, the focus is on contextualized searching. It centers on Siri's ability to pull from personal data such as emails, texts, and calendar events to deliver detailed, personalized results.
An uphill battle
Apple Intelligence has had a somewhat lackluster rollout. At launch, the company had issues with notification summaries, prompting it to partially disable the feature in January.
Apple was slated to roll out the new, improved Siri in March 2025 with the debut of iOS 18.4. While that update did add in some new Apple Intelligence features, Siri was conspicuously absent.
In April, Apple admitted that it would be pushing back the launch of Siri indefinitely.
To get Siri back on track, Apple reshuffled its leadership. The company replaced then-Siri chief John Giannandrea with Mike Rockwell, who had been leading the Apple Vision Pro team.
