Apple Unveils Entirely New Siri AI at WWDC 2026 Keynote

Apple used its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2026 keynote to unveil an “entirely new version of Siri, Siri unlocked by Apple Intelligence,” and the company said it would be “Siri AI.”

“Siri's big Apple Intelligence upgrades sound a whole lot like Gemini - Apple announced an AI overhaul for its Siri assistant at WWDC 2026”

Android Authority

Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering, described Siri AI as “a completely reimagined version of Siri that is more helpful, more capable, and more intelligent.”

Android Authority

The new Siri is powered by Apple Intelligence and is designed to draw on personal context understanding and onscreen awareness, with users able to ask questions and extend responses into follow-up conversations.

Apple said Siri AI would be available for developer testing starting “today,” and it would be available as a beta to users later this year.

Apple also said Siri AI can help users find what they need in the moment “across messages, emails, photos, and more,” including examples like surfacing a hotel confirmation number from an old email.

Apple’s Siri AI overhaul is built on Apple Intelligence and, multiple outlets said, relies on a partnership with Google Gemini, including a deal Apple announced in January to have Gemini power Siri’s AI.

Mike Rockwell, VP of engineering, said during the WWDC 2026 presentation, “Today, we are introducing an entirely new version of Siri, Siri unlocked by Apple Intelligence,” and he added, “We call it Siri AI.”

Apple World Today

Craig Federighi also said Apple would not ship iPadOS 27 and iOS 27 with Siri AI to EU countries in the fall, with the rationale that EU regulators want other virtual assistants to have the same access to users’ private data that Siri gets.

The Indian Express said Apple’s new Siri supports “more fluid, back-and-forth conversations” and can respond based on context from what users are viewing, including schedules, messages, images, and documents.

Business Insider Africa reported that Siri AI “will not launch in the European Union or China initially,” while also saying the Siri AI launch delay in the EU was due to disputes with European regulators over how the Digital Markets Act applies to Apple’s AI capabilities.

Apple said Siri AI can access information from the web and from a user’s personal Apple account, and Android Authority described that Siri AI “can access information across the public internet and your own Apple account.”

“- Apple detailed its long-delayed overhaul to Siri at WWDC 2026”

Business Insider Africa

Android Authority also said the assistant supports conversational input and can react to content on the screen, while it reported that Siri AI will be available on iPhone 16 or newer and on iPhone 15 Pro models.

The Indian Express said Siri now offers improved speech understanding, “more expressive voices and greater accuracy in dictation,” and it described voice dictation that can automatically handle punctuation, capitalisation and formatting more accurately.

Apple World Today said Siri AI includes a dedicated app so users can revisit conversations across products, and it described onscreen awareness examples like brainstorming with Siri on what to bring and then adding a recipe to the Notes app.

WIRED added that the revamp includes a stand-alone Siri app and that soon users will be able to have “chatbot-style interactions with Siri and access past conversations,” as Apple tries to make Siri more action-oriented and personal.