At the upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference in June, Apple is expected to pull back the curtain on a dramatically reimagined Siri. 

According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, privacy will sit front and center in the entire reveal.

This isn’t just a software update. It’s a second chance.

Apple’s AI Moment

Siri has fallen behind. While ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini grabbed headlines, Siri struggled to keep up. 

Therefore, Apple is going big. The company plans to launch the first-ever standalone Siri app to act like a direct competitor to ChatGPT, but built with Apple’s signature focus on user privacy.

This new app will give users a full chatbot experience. It would be prompted for questions, provide detailed answers, and have real back-and-forth conversations.

Also read: Apple’s Eyeing OpenAI and Anthropic to Save Siri

Auto-Deleting Chats

One of the most interesting details Gurman revealed is that Siri could let you automatically delete your conversations.

Similar to how the Messages app works, users may be able to set chats to disappear after 30 days or one year, or keep them forever. The choice would be yours.

That’s a meaningful privacy control. Most AI chatbots hold onto your data far longer than you might expect. Apple appears to be pushing in the opposite direction.

Powered by Google 

The new Siri app won’t run entirely on Apple’s own technology. According to earlier reporting, Google Gemini will power some of Apple’s AI features, including pieces of Siri.

That prompts the question: if Google is handling part of the backend, how private is it really?

Gurman pointed this out: Apple may be leaning heavily on its privacy story, in part, to soften criticism of Siri’s limitations compared to rivals. 

But some of that data processing runs through Google’s systems. Apple hasn’t spelled out exactly how that data sharing works, but that’s a gap users will want answered.

Privacy as Strategy

Apple has long marketed itself as the privacy-friendly tech giant. “What happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone.” That message has worked well for years.

While competitors like OpenAI and Google collect and use conversation data to train their models, Apple wants to stand apart. 

It’s imposing stricter data limits, shorter retention windows, and user control baked in from the start.

That’s a smart move and a good selling point for millions of privacy-conscious users. But it’s also a delicate balancing act. 

Building a competitive AI product requires massive amounts of data. Limiting that data can limit the product’s capabilities. 

Apple will need to convince users that its privacy-first Siri can still go toe-to-toe with ChatGPT.