What is Siri AI?

A ground-up rebuild

At WWDC 2026, Apple rebranded Siri as "Siri AI" and described it as a far more capable assistant. Where the old Siri handled one command at a time, Siri AI can hold multi-turn conversations, draw on real-time world knowledge from the web, read context from your email, messages, and photos, understand what's on your screen, and chain several steps together in a single request.

It lives in a standalone app with history synced through iCloud, and also works system-wide. You can reach it from the Dynamic Island, the side button, or by saying "Hey Siri." Apple also gave it a more expressive voice, with pace and expressivity you can adjust during setup.

What powers it

Siri AI runs on a new generation of Apple Intelligence. On-device tasks use Apple's own foundation models; the heavier cloud reasoning is handled by a custom Google Gemini model, run inside Apple's own infrastructure. See Apple's Gemini deal, explained for how that arrangement works.

When you can use it

Apple says Siri AI launches as an English-only beta later in 2026, with a broad rollout alongside iOS 27 in the fall. It will not be available in mainland China at launch while Apple works through local regulatory requirements. Exact device eligibility will firm up as the beta progresses.

The honest caveat

Apple's personalized Siri was first teased in 2024 and slipped repeatedly before this reveal, and much of what Apple showed was demos. We mark each specific capability as Predicted until we confirm it on a real device, then Verified — so check the badge on each how-to page before you rely on it.