Apple’s AI Answer Engine Could Arrive Sooner Than Expected

Apple has been quietly building a new generative AI project, and it might be ready much faster than anyone thought. Bloomberg reports that the company’s in-house “answer engine” could launch as early as March 2026, marking Apple’s boldest move yet into the world of AI-powered search.

World Knowledge Answers Explained

Internally known as World Knowledge Answers (WKA), the tool is being developed by Apple’s new Answers, Knowledge, and Information (AKI) team. The idea is simple but ambitious: create a direct rival to Perplexity and ChatGPT, delivering instant, conversational answers to user queries. Unlike traditional search, WKA will be powered by large language models (LLMs), making Siri smarter and more useful than ever before.

For now, Apple plans to roll out WKA inside the new Siri overhaul, before expanding to Safari and Spotlight in the future. That means users will first experience it through voice commands or text inside Siri, with wider integration coming later.

A Surprising Timeline

What’s surprising is the speed. Apple only recently formed the AKI team, yet WKA is already on track for a March launch. Normally, Apple takes years to bring new technologies from prototype to product, but this fast-tracked schedule shows how urgently the company wants to catch up in AI.

According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, while WKA won’t initially be in Safari or Spotlight, it’s designed to eventually power search across Apple’s ecosystem. For a project just months in the making, that’s ambitious.

Who’s Building It

Multiple Apple teams are involved: Siri under Craig Federighi, the AI group led by John Giannandrea, and Services overseen by Eddy Cue. Together, they’re trying to reinvent Siri into something closer to today’s most advanced AI chatbots.

Apple is also hedging its bets. Internally, the company is running tests to see whether Siri should rely solely on Apple’s own models or integrate external ones from Google, OpenAI, or Anthropic. Apple has reportedly tested a Google-developed model, and the recent antitrust ruling that preserved its Google search deal gives it breathing room to keep that partnership alive.

WKA is only part of Apple’s wider AI comeback plan. Alongside it, Apple is preparing a visual redesign for Siri, considering a chatbot-like search app, and even planning a health-focused AI agent tied to a paid wellness subscription in 2026. Acquisitions are also on the table to strengthen its AI stack.

Why This Matters

Apple has been criticized for falling behind in the AI race, especially as ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini push the boundaries of generative search. But the launch of World Knowledge Answers could quickly change that. By embedding it directly into Siri and later Safari and Spotlight, Apple is aiming not just to match its rivals—but to redefine how users search on its devices.

If the March timeline holds, iPhone and Mac users won’t have to wait long to see how Apple’s answer engine compares. And for the first time in years, Siri might finally feel less like an afterthought and more like the intelligent assistant Apple always promised.