Apple's Siri Could Become an AI Agent as Early as Next Year, Gurman Reports

Apple could turn Siri into a genuine AI agent as early as next year, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, with the voice assistant learning to track goals and keep working on them without being asked at every step. The report, published in Gurman's Power On newsletter on November 8, 2026, says Apple CEO John Ternus is pushing software chief Craig Federighi to speed up Siri's roadmap — and that the agentic upgrade could arrive in 2027.

Person holding an iPhone showing a glowing voice assistant interface

What an Agentic Siri Would Actually Do

Direct answer: According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple could make Siri function "more like an agent" as early as next year. An agentic Siri would track goals, work out what needs to happen next and keep pursuing objectives without the user initiating every individual step — like OpenAI's Dots, Meta's Muse and Grok. Apple has not confirmed the plan, and the exact implementation remains to be seen.

Today's Siri is, in Apple's own words, "primarily request-based." You ask, it answers, and then it waits. An agentic assistant works the other way around: you give it a goal — plan a trip, sort out a busy week, research a purchase — and it keeps working through the steps, checking back only when it needs a decision. That is the gap Gurman says Apple now wants to close.

Gurman quoted the contrast directly in his newsletter: "Dots, Muse and Grok can keep track of goals, determine what needs to happen next and continue pursuing objectives without the user initiating every individual step. Apple ultimately wants to go in this direction, I'm told, and I believe the company could make Siri more like an agent as early as next year."

Ternus Pushes Federighi to Move Faster

Behind the report is a leadership push. Gurman says that in a closed-door meeting in recent weeks, Apple CEO John Ternus told software engineering chief Craig Federighi that Apple needs to accelerate its AI roadmap and move beyond incremental Siri improvements. Ternus, who took over as CEO after Tim Cook, is said to be frustrated by what he sees as a reluctance to embrace AI with the same urgency as competitors.

On Apple's fiscal fourth-quarter 2026 earnings call on November 2, Ternus struck a more public note, praising the redesigned Siri AI and saying it is "primarily request-based today" but "built on a modern orchestrator-driven architecture that gives us real room to expand its capabilities over time." That architecture — an orchestrator that can plan and sequence actions — is exactly what an agentic assistant needs.

The redesigned Siri AI shipped with iOS 27 on September 14, 2026, and it is, by most accounts, much more intelligent and personalized than classic Siri. But it still waits to be asked. The reported plan would change that fundamental behavior, turning Siri from a reactive helper into a proactive one.

What Is Coming First: App Control in iOS 27.3 and Beyond

Before any full agent arrives, Siri is set to gain more practical powers. According to Gurman's reporting, extended Siri AI control over Apple's own apps — such as rotating and cropping images in Photos or organizing Safari tabs — is targeted for the public release of iOS 27.3 in December 2026, with the first beta already in testing. Third-party app support, which would let Siri place orders through services like Grubhub or book reservations through OpenTable, is reportedly not expected until spring 2027, and then only as a preview.

That staged rollout matters. Deep app control is the foundation an agent needs: without the ability to act inside apps, Siri cannot complete multi-step tasks at all. Apple's App Intents framework, built up over years, could give it an advantage here — Siri may not need as much screen-scraping "computer use" ability as rival agents, making certain tasks cheaper and more reliable. Check out related tech offers here while Apple builds out Siri's new skills.

Smartphone on a desk showing a colorful voice assistant orb next to earbuds and a smartwatch

Why Apple Cannot Wait

The pressure on Apple is real. OpenAI, Meta and xAI have all shipped agents that work proactively, and users are beginning to expect assistants that do things rather than just answer questions. Gurman put it bluntly: Apple is moving toward agentic Siri "not that it has much of a choice, given current consumer and market demands."

There are also internal complications. Gurman reported that Mike Rockwell, the vice president of Siri engineering, is still considering leaving his role or Apple altogether next year — a departure that would come at an awkward moment for a team under pressure to deliver. And Federighi, who built his reputation on software quality and privacy, is said to have concerns about AI's privacy, security and societal implications, even as he delivered the current Siri AI on what Gurman called an incredibly short timeline.

For iPhone users, the honest takeaway is patience. Treat the "as early as next year" timing as Gurman's expectation, not Apple's promise. The concrete steps to watch are iOS 27.3 in December and the third-party app preview in spring 2027 — those will show whether Siri is genuinely becoming an agent, or just a better voice assistant. Follow the story as it develops in our Tech & AI coverage on TrendWire Daily.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Apple making Siri an AI agent?

It is reported, not confirmed. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman wrote in his Power On newsletter on November 8, 2026, that Apple could make Siri function "more like an agent" as early as next year. Apple has not announced an agentic Siri feature or a release date.

What would an agentic Siri do differently?

Instead of waiting for each request, an agentic Siri would track goals, determine what needs to happen next and continue pursuing objectives without the user initiating every step — similar to OpenAI's Dots, Meta's Muse and Grok.

When could an agentic Siri arrive?

Gurman believes it could arrive as early as 2027. Nearer milestones are iOS 27.3 in December 2026, with extended control of Apple's own apps, and third-party app support expected in spring 2027 as a preview.

Who is pushing for the change inside Apple?

According to Gurman, CEO John Ternus told software chief Craig Federighi in a closed-door meeting in recent weeks to speed up the roadmap and move beyond incremental Siri improvements.

What is Siri AI, and when did it launch?

Siri AI is Apple's redesigned, more intelligent and personalized version of Siri. It shipped with iOS 27 on September 14, 2026. Apple CEO John Ternus said on the November 2, 2026 earnings call that it is "primarily request-based today" but built on an orchestrator-driven architecture.

How does Siri compare with rival AI agents today?

Rival agents such as OpenAI's Dots, Meta's Muse and Grok can already track goals and work proactively. Siri AI is more intelligent than classic Siri but, as MacRumors put it, "still not nearly as advanced" as those always-on agents — the gap Apple reportedly wants to close.

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