Siri Is Opening Up – iOS 27 Will Let You Plug In Gemini, Claude, and More

2 Billion iPhones Are About to Become an AI Battleground

Bloomberg dropped a bombshell on March 26: Apple is opening Siri to rival AI assistants in iOS 27. Google Gemini, Anthropic Claude, and potentially any AI chatbot on the App Store will be able to plug directly into Siri through a new system called Extensions.

This is not a feature update. This is Apple admitting that the AI race cannot be won alone, and deciding to become the platform where everyone else competes.

The Context – Siri's Long Decline

Siri launched in 2011 with iPhone 4S and felt like magic. Voice-controlling your phone was straight out of science fiction. But the years that followed told a different story.

While Google Assistant leveraged the world's largest search index to become frighteningly accurate, and Amazon Alexa built an entire smart home ecosystem, Siri kept apologizing for not understanding. When ChatGPT arrived in late 2022, the gap became a chasm. Users suddenly expected their AI to reason, create, and hold conversations, and Siri could do none of that well.

Apple's response came in stages. First was Apple Intelligence at WWDC 2024, promising on-device AI processing. The reception was lukewarm. Then came the ChatGPT partnership in 2025, routing complex queries to OpenAI's model through Siri.

Now Apple is taking a fundamentally different approach. Instead of depending on one AI partner, it is opening the gates to everyone.

Period	Siri Strategy	Key Change
2011–2023	Built in-house	Closed system, slow iteration
2024	Apple Intelligence	On-device AI, limited scope
2025	ChatGPT partnership	Single external AI
2026	Extensions platform	Multiple AI backends

How Extensions Actually Work

Distribution Through the App Store

According to Bloomberg's reporting, Apple is developing a new system called Extensions. Here is the deal: AI chatbot apps distributed through the App Store can plug into Siri as first-class citizens. Users pick which AI services Siri should route to through a new settings menu. Test builds of iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27 already show this settings interface.

Think of it like changing your default search engine in a web browser, except the thing you are choosing is not a search engine but an AI brain.

The End of ChatGPT Exclusivity

Until now, if you wanted AI through Siri, ChatGPT was your only option. Starting with iOS 27, a Gemini user can set Gemini as their default. A Claude user can set Claude. The choice belongs to the user.

For OpenAI, this is a double-edged sword. They lose the exclusive distribution channel that Apple's partnership guaranteed, but they gain the chance to prove they are the best choice in an open market.

Official Reveal at WWDC 2026

Apple plans to formally announce Extensions at WWDC on June 8. The feature would ship with iOS 27 in the fall.

The Bigger Picture – AI Distribution Is the New Moat

You miss the point if you look at this as an Apple story alone. The entire AI industry is fighting over who gets the user touchpoint.

This same week, Shopify activated Agentic Storefronts, putting millions of merchants' products inside ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Mode, and Copilot conversations. AI chatbots are expanding beyond conversations into commerce, productivity, and personal assistance. Where you reach users is becoming as important as how good your model is.

AI Distribution Channel	Approach	Reach
ChatGPT app	Direct install	400M+ MAU (est.)
Apple Siri Extensions	OS-level integration	2B+ iPhones
Shopify Agentic	In-commerce AI	Millions of sellers
Windows Copilot	OS bundle	1.5B+ PCs

What makes Apple's move special is scale. 2 billion iPhone users choosing between Gemini, Claude, and ChatGPT as their default AI assistant is the largest distribution opportunity in AI history.

It is also a pride play. Apple is saying: if our AI is not the best, at least we will be the platform where the best AI lives.

What This Changes for You

For regular users, the biggest shift is choice. You no longer have to use whatever AI Apple chose for you. Route coding questions to Claude, search queries to Gemini, creative tasks to GPT. Mix and match based on what each model does best.

For developers, this opens a brand new market. Build an AI chatbot app, put it on the App Store, and reach 2 billion users through Siri. This is the App Store moment of 2008 all over again, but for AI.

For AI companies, this is existential. If your model is not available on the Apple ecosystem, you risk becoming invisible on mobile. Google will push Gemini hard. Anthropic will push Claude. OpenAI needs to defend ChatGPT's incumbent position.

Apple's opening of Siri changes the battlefield. Building the best model is no longer enough. You have to win the user's choice in an open market.

WWDC on June 8 will show exactly how this plays out. Between now and then, expect AI companies to ramp up their Apple ecosystem strategies aggressively.

Siri Is Opening Up – iOS 27 Will Let You Plug In Gemini, Claude, and More

2 Billion iPhones Are About to Become an AI Battleground

The Context – Siri's Long Decline