- Secret “Veritas” app: Apple has built an internal ChatGPT-style chatbot (code-named Veritas) to test a major Siri overhaul macrumors.com timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Veritas is not a consumer product but a test tool for Apple’s AI team to try out Siri’s next-gen features.
- Chatbot features: The Veritas app behaves like modern AI assistants. It supports multiple saved conversations, follows up on earlier queries, and can carry on long, context-aware dialogues 9to5mac.com timesofindia.indiatimes.com. In short, it’s like ChatGPT in form.
- Powering new Siri: This prototype runs on Apple’s new “Linwood” AI system – a mix of Apple’s own foundation models and outside LLMs gadgets360.com timesofindia.indiatimes.com – to refine Siri’s upcoming capabilities (searching your personal data, editing photos, etc.) in real-world tests au.investing.com timesofindia.indiatimes.com.
- Delayed launch: Apple originally promised this “LLM Siri” in 2025, but after bugs and delays it’s now expected in early 2026 (around March with iOS 26.4) gadgets360.com timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Until then, Veritas helps engineers debug Siri behind the scenes.
- On-device AI: Apple is prioritizing privacy and speed. Veritas is testing “low-latency responses, on-device private compute and offline reasoning,” with a goal of handling ~90% of Siri’s requests locally on the iPhone finance.sina.com.cn.
- AI race context: Tim Cook says Apple “must win in AI” – viewing this Siri overhaul as a high-stakes bet timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Apple is exploring partnerships with OpenAI (ChatGPT), Google (Gemini), and Anthropic (Claude) while also building its own AI macrumors.com economictimes.indiatimes.com. Competitors haven’t stood still: Google’s Gemini and other chat tools have surged (Gemini even topped ChatGPT in downloads ndtv.com) and Amazon is readying a generative “Alexa+” assistant reuters.com.
Apple’s new testing app Veritas represents a big step in Apple’s AI push macrumors.com appleinsider.com. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the app “essentially takes the still-in-progress technology from the new Siri and puts it in a form employees can test out more efficiently” au.investing.com appleinsider.com. Internally, Veritas is run on engineers’ iPhones to try features that Siri will eventually have. In practice it “behaves more like a chatbot,” says AppleInsider, referencing past chats and enabling longer back-and-forth conversations appleinsider.com. This lets Apple’s AI team rapidly prototype capabilities without constantly reworking Siri’s voice interface.
What kind of new skills is Apple testing? Reports say Veritas can do things Siri today can’t. For example, it can search a user’s personal data (music library, emails, calendars) and even perform in-app actions like editing photos au.investing.com timesofindia.indiatimes.com. In effect, the AI assistant would act on whatever’s on screen or in your files to answer complex queries. Veritas is built on Apple’s new “Linwood” framework – a combination of Apple’s own large language models and third-party AI engines gadgets360.com timesofindia.indiatimes.com – so Apple can mix and match the best tools. This hybrid AI is designed to make Siri more conversational and context-aware, storing memory across turns much like ChatGPT 9to5mac.com timesofindia.indiatimes.com.
Crucially, Veritas is not going to the App Store. Apple has emphasized that the tool is for internal testing only, and the company “currently has no plans to release it to consumers” au.investing.com 9to5mac.com. PhoneArena notes Apple hasn’t decided if a standalone Siri chatbot app would even help users, warning that if engineers aren’t “convinced [it] would significantly improve user experience,” they may never launch it phonearena.com. Craig Federighi, Apple’s software chief, has explained that Apple prefers Siri to be “integrated into everything you do, not a bolt-on chatbot on the side” 9to5mac.com – a hint that Siri’s final form may stay as a built-in assistant rather than a separate app. In the meantime, Veritas is described as very similar to what such a consumer app would look like if ever released phonearena.com.
When will we see the new Siri? Apple’s timeline has shifted. The company originally planned to debut “Siri 2.0” alongside iOS 18, but ran into engineering problems. By April 2025, Apple admitted the rollout was being postponed indefinitely appleinsider.com. Now, most reports say the revamped Siri (with AI chat capabilities) is expected in early 2026 – possibly around March if iOS 26.4 ships on schedule gadgets360.com timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Mark Gurman and others say Apple’s fixing bugs that once made Siri fail “up to a third of the time,” while Tim Cook has quietly told staff the company is “making the investment” to win in AI timesofindia.indiatimes.com timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Some new Siri features have already appeared in iOS 18 (like better on-device voice recognition and the ability to type queries), but the full LLM-powered Siri was held back. Veritas is now a critical part of getting those features ready.
Apple’s AI push extends beyond Siri. As Apple’s own press release points out, Apple Intelligence (announced in 2024) already leverages ChatGPT in some features – for example, Siri can tap into GPT-4o to answer general-knowledge questions when asked apple.com. Apple even integrated ChatGPT into new writing and image tools on iOS. But those are bolt-on features; the goal with Veritas is to bake generative AI into Siri itself. Even so, Apple stresses privacy: Veritas testing focuses on “on-device private compute” so Siri can answer most requests without sending everything to the cloud finance.sina.com.cn. In fact, Apple’s aim is for over 90% of Siri’s work to happen locally on your iPhone finance.sina.com.cn, a contrast to cloud-based chatbots.
Meanwhile, rivals are moving fast. Google’s Gemini assistant (formerly Bard) has become a full-stack AI platform – integrating into Pixel phones, search, and more – and even topped ChatGPT in downloads after new features debuted ndtv.com. Amazon is finally giving Alexa a generative makeover, with a new Alexa+ launched in 2025 that can hold multi-turn conversations and act autonomously on your behalf reuters.com. In short, consumer expectations for voice AI have skyrocketed since Siri’s 2011 debut. Tech analyst Ben Wood notes that Google had “grown complacent” in AI but has since refocused, while Apple now finds itself as the underdog in the AI race ndtv.com ndtv.com.
Bottom line: Apple’s hidden Veritas app shows how seriously the company is taking Siri’s upgrade. As Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman puts it, Apple is “taking the still-in-progress” Siri engine and transforming it into a chatbot format for faster testing au.investing.com appleinsider.com. The experts say Veritas could be “the key to fixing Siri” appleinsider.com – if Apple can master the technology. For now, ordinary users will have to wait for the finished product (and maybe another iPhone update) to see how well this all works.
Sources: Industry reports and expert analyses from Bloomberg News (via Bloomberg and financial sites) macrumors.com au.investing.com, AppleInsider appleinsider.com appleinsider.com, 9to5Mac 9to5mac.com, Gadgets360 gadgets360.com gadgets360.com, Times of India timesofindia.indiatimes.com timesofindia.indiatimes.com, Reuters reuters.com, NDTV ndtv.com, PhoneArena phonearena.com phonearena.com, and official Apple press releases apple.com finance.sina.com.cn. Each source is cited in-text above.
