The move is aimed at meeting EU regulations but won’t be as open-ended as users may hope.
Cupertino, CA – May 20, 2025: Apple is reportedly working on a seismic shift in its voice assistant ecosystem – allowing users to replace Siri with third-party AI assistants like Google Gemini or OpenAI’s ChatGPT. According to a Bloomberg report, this change is primarily being pushed to comply with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), which pressures tech giants to allow more flexibility and user choice in default apps and services.
If implemented, the change would break Apple’s long-standing tradition of tightly controlling its software environment. Users in supported regions could set alternative voice assistants as the default assistant on their iPhones – effectively swapping out Siri.
Gemini, ChatGPT or Meta AI on iPhones?
This move opens the door for advanced AI-powered assistants such as Google Assistant/Gemini, ChatGPT, DeepSeek, or Meta AI to potentially become the voice of iPhone. However, Bloomberg notes that while this change is under active development, its rollout may initially be limited to European markets due to regulatory pressure, and Apple may impose integration restrictions outside the EU.
Currently, Apple has a limited integration with OpenAI, allowing Siri to offload complex queries to ChatGPT in certain use cases. But users cannot directly use ChatGPT as their default assistant without going through Siri first.
Where Is AI-Powered Siri?
Apple had promised a major overhaul of Siri with AI-powered features, better contextual awareness, and nuanced command understanding during WWDC 2024 and the iPhone 16 launch. However, nearly a year later, those upgrades have yet to materialize.
The company’s delayed rollout has already triggered a class-action lawsuit in the U.S., with plaintiffs accusing Apple of false advertising over Siri’s AI claims.
Siri’s LLM Overhaul Underway in Zurich
Internally, Apple has intensified work at its AI research labs in Zurich, developing a next-generation Siri powered entirely by large language models (LLMs). The revamped Siri is expected to be more conversational, context-aware, and better at aggregating and synthesizing information across apps and services.
The tech giant has also deployed thousands of human reviewers across Texas, Ireland, and other global offices, tasked with auditing Apple Intelligence summaries and flagging AI hallucinations – false or misleading AI-generated responses.
A Strategic Balancing Act
Apple faces the challenge of balancing innovation with control. While regulatory frameworks are pushing the company to open up, Apple is known for prioritizing user privacy, device security, and ecosystem control. Any future support for alternative voice assistants is likely to be tightly regulated and implemented in a way that maintains Apple’s overarching design philosophy.
Apple is expected to shed more light on its AI roadmap and Siri evolution at WWDC 2025, scheduled for June.
Bhupendra Singh Chundawat is a seasoned technology journalist with over 22 years of experience in the media industry. He specializes in covering the global technology landscape, with a deep focus on manufacturing trends and the geopolitical impact on tech companies. Currently serving as the Editor at Udaipur Kiran, his insights are shaped by decades of hands-on reporting and editorial leadership in the fast-evolving world of technology.