Apple opens its long-delayed, Gemini-assisted Siri to the public in the iOS 27 beta

The new Siri is the centerpiece of the iOS 27 public beta, marking Apple's public re-entry into the assistant race after repeated delays. The overhaul focuses on personal context (drawing on a user's on-device data) and on-screen awareness (acting on what's currently displayed), with users joining a waitlist to switch it on.

Architecturally, Apple leans on on-device Foundation Models for privacy and speed, but the system was built in collaboration with Google's Gemini — a notable admission that Apple is renting frontier capability rather than building it alone, while keeping inference local where possible. That hybrid approach dovetails with separate reporting that Apple is in early talks with startup PrismML to compress large models for efficient on-device execution on iPhones.

Competitively, the launch pits a privacy-first, on-device pitch against OpenAI's GPT-Live voice agent and Anthropic's assistants — a differentiated lane rather than a raw-capability arms race. Investors rewarded the restraint: Apple shares hit record territory as traders soured on rivals' heavy AI capex. The risks are execution and expectations — Siri's overhaul has slipped before, the waitlist gates real-world scrutiny, and a lawsuit over prior Siri privacy claims is still working through settlement.