AI strategy fully rebooted — is Apple's iOS Siri "Xiaolongxia" coming?

Apple reportedly testing a standalone Siri app

It has been reported that Apple is testing a major redesign of Siri, recasting the long-running voice assistant as a standalone app with new features branded internally as "Ask Siri" and "Write with Siri." The change — said to be slated for an unveiling at WWDC on June 9 and to ship as part of iOS 27 and macOS 27 — would move Siri from a passive system function to an app-like AI agent with an independent interface, conversation history and deeper hooks into apps and data. Reportedly, the move follows months of internal retrenching after Apple Intelligence failed to win broad market recognition.

What Apple is said to be building

According to the reporting, the prototype app shows past interactions in a list or rounded-card grid with text previews, lets users pin and search conversations, supports text and voice input, and accepts attachments (documents, photos) for analysis. The new Siri would also surface as system-level entries — an "Ask Siri" command in app menus and a "Write with Siri" option above the keyboard — and could subsume Spotlight as a unified search-and-answer surface that draws on personal context and web sources. These specifics remain unconfirmed and have been described to reporters by people familiar with Apple’s plans; details are reportedly still being refined in internal iOS 27 builds.

Why Apple is making the pivot — and what it faces

Why the abrupt reset now? Competition and product economics. Google Gemini is deeply embedded into Android and Microsoft’s Copilot into Windows; both firms have pushed a "system-level AI" model that Apple has lagged behind. IDC data cited in reporting places Google Assistant and Microsoft Copilot well ahead of Siri in AI-assistant market share, and Apple’s services growth and slowing device revenue make new AI offerings an attractive commercial lever. It has been reported that Apple's approach is shifting from pure in‑house model development toward a hybrid of Apple Foundation Models plus a collaboration with Google’s Gemini technology — reportedly part of an approximately $1 billion partnership — reflecting a tactical change from "fully self‑contained" to "self‑developed plus strategic partners."

The stakes are global. For Western readers: this is not just a product redesign but a strategic recalibration amid a broader tech rivalry that includes Chinese AI players such as Baidu (百度), Alibaba (阿里巴巴) and Huawei (华为), and under the shadow of geopolitical frictions over AI chips, data flows and export controls. Can Apple turn Siri into a conversational, context‑aware AI that competes with ChatGPT‑class assistants? The coming WWDC will be the first hard test of whether this is a polished advance or an overdue pivot.