It was Tim Cook’s final keynote as Apple’s CEO — and he saved it for what might be the biggest Siri announcement since the original. At WWDC 2026, Apple unveiled the completely redesigned Siri AI. And the biggest surprise? What’s powering it.
Siri can actually talk now
The new Siri isn’t a polished voice assistant anymore. Apple has turned it into a full-fledged AI chatbot, competing head-on with ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. You can now have real conversations, back and forth, with context and memory. There’s a new Siri app with a text input field, available on iPads and Macs too. And you can revisit old conversations and results.
Siri now understands multi-step tasks, works across apps, and can even give feedback on your documents. Plus new, more natural voices.
Google and Nvidia under the hood
Here’s where it gets interesting: Apple’s new Foundation Models on Cloud are built in collaboration with Google. Apple’s cloud AI models run on Nvidia GPUs inside Google’s cloud — while maintaining Apple’s privacy guarantees. Apple says the Cloud Pro model is comparable to Google’s Gemini frontier models.
Who would’ve thought a year ago that Apple, Google, and Nvidia would be collaborating on Apple’s AI infrastructure? The consumer rivalries remain, but in the cloud, the three biggest tech companies on the planet are cooperating.
Spatial Reframing: AI changes your photos
Beyond Siri, Apple introduced ‘Spatial Reframing’ — a feature that lets you adjust the angle or composition of an existing photo after the fact. The AI generates a new view from a different perspective. Sounds like a fun toy, but for photographers and content creators, this could become a real tool.
But not for Europe
And here’s the catch: Siri AI won’t be available in Europe or China. Apple cites ‘regulatory challenges’ as the reason. The EU AI Act and China’s AI regulations apparently make things too complicated — or too risky — for Apple.
For European Apple users, that stings. While the US gets the full AI integration, we’re watching from the sidelines. Whether this becomes a permanent limitation or Apple catches up later remains to be seen.
Cook exits, Ternus takes over
WWDC 2026 was Tim Cook’s last keynote. John Ternus, currently SVP of Hardware Engineering, takes over on September 1st. Cook set the stage for his successor with an AI push that shows Apple is serious about catching up.
My take: Apple watched from the sidelines for a long time and just caught up in one move. The partnership with Google and Nvidia is smart — instead of training their own frontier models, Apple leverages the best available ones. But the Europe lockout is a warning sign: regulation doesn’t just slow innovation, it can cut entire regions out of the picture.
Sources: TechCrunch, CNBC, SiliconANGLE, CNBC