Apple debuts Siri AI with conversational, visual smarts

At its Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday, Apple introduced Siri AI, a rebuilt assistant that combines conversation, visual analysis and personal context to work across the company’s apps and devices. Apple said a public beta in English is planned for later this year, and developer testing begins immediately.

Apple presented Siri AI as part of a broader Apple Intelligence platform. The assistant can search a user’s messages, emails, photos and files, interpret on-screen content, query the internet and carry out multi-step tasks. In demonstrations, Siri AI drafted and edited email, adjusted and shared photos, created reminders and moved information between apps while maintaining threaded, follow-up conversations.

The company described a new architecture that mixes on-device models with a Private Cloud Compute layer to handle heavier requests. Apple stated data processed through Private Cloud Compute is not stored or accessible to the company and that independent security researchers can audit the system. A dedicated Siri app will keep conversation history and sync it across iCloud so users can start on a Mac and resume on an iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch or Vision Pro.

Apple expanded Siri AI across its software. Safari will group tabs by topic, monitor pages for changes through a Notify Me feature and create browser extensions from plain-language descriptions. The Passwords app can upgrade weak passwords automatically. Messages will suggest actions such as creating reminders from chats, Mail can trigger actions in third-party apps, Calendar can create events from natural-language text, and Shortcuts can build automations from everyday instructions.

Photo and image tools now include reframing, extending images beyond original borders and removing objects. Apple introduced a redesigned Image Playground to generate photorealistic images; generated and edited images will carry SynthID watermarks identifying AI-created or modified content. Visual Intelligence extends to a new iPhone camera mode that can analyze scenes and answer questions about people, places, objects and text. The same tools will be available on iPad, Mac and Vision Pro for searching images, screenshots and documents and for tasks such as identifying food or splitting bills.

Apple is opening parts of the platform to developers with updates to App Intents, Spotlight integrations and Foundation Models so third-party apps can use Siri AI’s contextual understanding and perform app actions. Siri AI is available to developers on iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27 and visionOS 27, with watchOS support arriving in a later beta. Apple said the assistant will not be available at launch on iPhone and iPad in the European Union and will remain unavailable in China while it addresses regulatory requirements.

Apple has adjusted its rollout timeline for Apple Intelligence after delays earlier this year and is facing a class-action lawsuit over marketing claims tied to the earlier launch. The company has added external AI partnerships, including integrations with OpenAI and Google’s Gemini, to support parts of its offerings.

Speaking in his final WWDC keynote as CEO, Tim Cook reflected on Apple’s work with users and developers: “Some of the greatest highlights of my time as CEO have been events like this, sharing powerful new tools with all of you, and then seeing what you create with them.” He added, “With the capabilities introduced at the event, the best is still ahead at Apple.”