Is Apples rumored AI strategy a risk to your iPhone? Heres why the new Siri could be the last thing Apple fans need

Date:
Tue, 31 Mar 2026 17:05:04 +0000

Description:
Apple might soon add AI chatbots that run inside Siri, but there could be a lot of risk involved.

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Take a look around the artificial intelligence (AI) landscape, and its clear that Apple is not among the frontrunners. Although the company announced its own Apple Intelligence offering at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June 2024 hailing it as AI for the rest of us its been beset by delays and missing features in the two years since it was revealed.

With rivals like ChatGPT and Google Gemini pulling further ahead, it seems like its harder than ever for Apple to catch up. Thats the main argument of Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman, who said in his latest Power On newsletter that Apple is going to adopt a new strategy, one that gives it a new way to bring AI to its devices. Yet Gurman says Apples decision means the company
has effectively conceded the AI race. Worse, I worry that it could leave your iPhone more at risk than ever before and could even result in Apple losing control of its operating systems . Let me explain. Article continues below
You may like The Siri chatbot could be Apples best AI upgrade in years heres why Report: Apple does about-face on Siri chatbot and it might compete directly with ChatGPT and Google 'After years of waiting, iPhone users
deserve nothing less': 5 things Gemini-powered Siri needs to do to save Apple from AI irrelevance Masquerading as Siri (Image credit: Apple) According to Gurman, Apple plans to bring what it calls Extensions to Siri at WWDC 2026. These would let users install third-party AI chatbots beyond ChatGPT and run them inside Siri, Gurman says. This is separate from the ongoing situation whereby ChatGPT and Google Gemini are being harnessed to power some Apple Intelligence features.

Its the last bit of Gurmans quote that has me concerned. Right now, Siri has wide-ranging access to the contents of your iPhone. The list of tasks it can currently fulfil (or will soon be able to, when the new Apple Intelligence-powered version lands ) is extensive and includes looking up
your contacts, knowing places youve recently visited, recognizing people in your photos, and more. Apple has been happy to allow that because it controls the process from end to end.

Siri has enough problems as it is. Is it worth creating more? But what if Apple opens up this kind of sensitive information to third-party chatbots? Will your information be ingested into the unknowable algorithms and be used to train them, thus presenting a not-insignificant risk of data leaks?

The very fact that AI algorithms are a black box means we just dont know what could happen to your information. Youd hope that Apple would put stringent restrictions on what the AI tools can do, but do we know that those
guardrails will be foolproof? I doubt it. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

And then theres the fact that all this will be going on inside a Siri-shaped wrapper (as Gurman says, Apples plan is to run these chatbots inside Siri).

If you interact with ChatGPT when it is masquerading as Siri, my feeling is that youre more likely to let your guard down and feed it more sensitive information because youre used to Siri and you know it comes from a privacy-focused company like Apple. Yet in reality, youll be using a third-party tool, not Apples locked-down chatbot .

Without some clear signposting that an external AI tool is being used, that could have potential consequences for your data privacy, as well as for a company like Apple, which usually positions itself as working so hard to protect that very privacy. What to read next Gemini will power next-gen
Siri's AI brain as Apple bows to the inevitable Siris AI overhaul could face another embarrassing delay Ouch! 96% of TechRadar readers say they dont use Apple Intelligence Losing control (Image credit: Apple) Thats not the only risky upshot I can foresee for this project. It feels to me that theres a
good chance that Apple could end up losing control of Siri, and that could have consequences for everyone involved.

For instance, when or if something goes wrong with one of these Siri-wrapped chatbots, who are users going to blame? At least with the standalone ChatGPT app , users know that its an external product. That allows the blame to be properly allocated and also permits Apple to wash its hands of the problem.

But what if you have a seriously negative experience with Siri when its powered by a third-party AI tool? Are you going to necessarily know that its not Siri that caused the issue, but the underlying chatbot? If Google Gemini is embedded within Siri, and Siri is the interface you interact with, youre probably going to lay the blame squarely at Apples feet. After all, its that familiar Siri experience that youre getting, even if the guts are different.

That means theres a good chance of negative blowback coming Apples way, whether or not the company is actually at fault. Siri has enough problems as it is. Is it worth creating more?

Apple is a firm obsessed with control. It feels hard to imagine its worth the risk of jeopardizing that control to carve out an increasingly small AI niche for itself. Gurman added a further detail: Siri Extensions will have their
own dedicated App Store section, effectively creating an AI App Store. Users will be able to download and install Extensions directly from this trusted place, then have them integrate right into Siri.

On the face of it, this sounds like a positive development. Apples App Store review process is conducted by humans and is generally fairly reliable, despite the occasional slip-up .

But we already know that Apple is struggling with AI apps that are submitted to the App Store. There have been multiple reports of delays to App Store approval as Apples reviewers seem overwhelmed by the number of fully vibe-coded apps that have been submitted. After all, if AI can write your entire app in a matter of days or even hours, the quantity of submitted apps is going to increase substantially as the accessibility of creating and publishing an app goes up, and the cost of doing so goes down. (Image credit: Apple) Apple has also blocked several vibe coding apps from submitting
updates to the App Store, citing store rules concerning apps that change
their code or purpose. Vibe coding apps fall foul of this rule because they allow users to generate code on the fly. Since Apple isnt able to review code that's added after the app was submitted, it has no way of knowing what could be created with a vibe coding app.

Now imagine a reality in which Apples already overworked App Store review
team is confronted with an entire sub-section dedicated to AI add-ons for Siri. How is the company going to guarantee the security of its users devices in a situation like this? And how is it going to guarantee a timely
submission and approval process if its adding an extra sub-section to its already bustling App Store?

Any failures or dangerous Extensions that get through will not only potentially damage users devices but will also generate bad press for Apple. The company wont want either of those things, especially when theyre linked
to its much-discussed Apple Intelligence and Siri features.

Apple is a firm obsessed with control. It feels hard to imagine its worth the risk of jeopardizing that control to carve out an increasingly small AI niche for itself, even as Apple has seemingly given up hope of becoming a leader in the field. Yet that seems to be the risk of rushing ahead with this chatbot plan and the already much-maligned Siri could be hit with the fallout . Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the
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