Could Apple Create An Ai Search Engine To Rival Gemini And Chatgpt? Here's How It Could Succeed

Sabrina Ortiz/ZDNET

ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• Apple reportedly has an AI hunt successful nan works. 
• The AI hunt acquisition could person a standalone app and powerfulness Siri.
• Timely and strategical merchandise pinch broader occurrence of AI hunt engines. 

With nan motorboat of Apple Intelligence, Apple sought to participate nan AI abstraction aft a somewhat precocious entry. However, respective delays of its astir sought-after feature, including Siri 2.0, person made it difficult to support up pinch much established competitors. A caller study specifications an AI merchandise successful nan useful that whitethorn thief bolster Apple's position. 

On Sunday, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported successful nan Power On newsletter that Apple's recently-assembled Answers, Knowledge, and Information (AKI) squad is moving connected a ChatGPT rival that will springiness users easier entree to nan breadth of accusation disposable connected accepted search. 

Apple did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.

What is nan product?

The study said that nan merchandise is meant to usability arsenic an "answer engine" that tin supply responses to wide knowledge questions, leveraging nan web. This is simply a awesome pivot from nan existent approach, arsenic Apple ne'er developed its ain hunt engine, moreover successful nan pre-AI era. Once it came to incorporating generative AI, it relied connected OpenAI's ChatGPT to provender users responses that Siri can't access. 

(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, ZDNET's genitor company, revenge an April 2025 suit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights successful training and operating its AI systems.)

Apple is reportedly besides exploring nan creation of a standalone app for this acquisition and back-end infrastructure that tin powerfulness nan hunt capabilities for different Apple offerings, including Siri, Spotlight, and Safari, successful nan future. This could beryllium a awesome triumph for users arsenic it would let them to entree nan accusation they request from nan web conversationally and natively wrong their favourite apps successful nan Apple experience. The standalone app could besides airs a worthy rival to those of different AI searches connected nan market, specified arsenic ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, and Perplexity, each disposable for download connected iOS now -- pinch nan advantage that it would beryllium autochthonal to nan Apple ecosystem of tools. 

Increasingly, much users are turning to AI hunt engines to behaviour their queries for nan above-mentioned queries. The Pew Research Center conscionable released a study showing that Google users are little apt to click connected links erstwhile an AI summary appears, apt because they find each of nan accusation they request successful nan overview. As a consequence of this demand, much and much companies person released their ain takes connected AI hunt engines, making it strategical for Apple to research this area. 

This move is peculiarly applicable now, arsenic nan US Department of Justice's antitrust suit against Google has entered a remedies phase, which whitethorn put an extremity to nan multi-billion-dollar woody that makes Google nan default hunt motor connected Apple devices.

What tin Apple do to guidelines out?

Apple's advantage is that it tin merge its ain type of an AI hunt motor straight into its products, which billions of group trust connected each day. If Apple tin create a hunt acquisition that is functional and really adjuvant successful getting users nan accusation they request faster, it could not only beryllium a characteristic users bask erstwhile searching for caller information, but besides optimize different experiences connected their phones. 

For example, ideate a Siri that could propulsion accusation successful existent clip from nan web, understand personification intent, and service nan responses conversationally. While this is, successful ample part, what Siri 2.0 was expected to be, a autochthonal AI hunt motor could further heighten its capabilities by having it propulsion straight from an Apple merchandise alternatively than relying connected a third-party stripped-down experience. The AI hunt acquisition could besides beryllium accessible successful apps for illustration Messages aliases Mail to entree real-time accusation astir what you are sending communications about, which could beryllium a useful instrumentality for users. 

Another added prize is that it will apt support nan aforesaid look and interface of Apple's ecosystem of devices, which Apple users are not only acquainted with, but besides prefer. For example, erstwhile I americium asked which chatbot is nan champion fresh for users, I typically show users who are heavy into nan Google ecosystem of devices and devices to usage Gemini, because, while it offers nan wide aforesaid usage lawsuit arsenic nan others, it has nan aforesaid look and consciousness of nan google products which make beryllium a amended fit. 

However, it is difficult to hit Google, which has dominated nan hunt marketplace for decades. For example, Bing attempted to drawback up pinch its ain integration of AI, and while it did lend to a surge of complete 40 cardinal regular progressive users, it still pales successful comparison to Google's marketplace share. According to StatCounter, arsenic of July 2025, Google holds 90% of nan hunt motor marketplace stock worldwide, while Bing only holds 4%. While these numbers are discouraging, it doesn't look for illustration Apple is seeking to compete successful nan AI space, but would alternatively for illustration to adhd connected to what its users tin return advantage of and make its suite of AI devices much robust.