Apple is again gearing up for another ambitious upgrade to Siri which will come through two major projects: Linwood and Glenwood. These projects aim to transform Siri from a basic voice assistant into a powerful AI companion and virtual assistant capable of matching the sophistication of language models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
The upgrades that will come from the aforementioned projects are a complete overhaul of Siri’s capabilities, meaning new features that enhance how users interact with their Apple devices will be introduced. They are slated for release in 2026.
Linwood: Building a smarter Siri from within
The Linwood project, according to Apple Insider, is the tech giant’s effort to build a new AI foundation for Siri using large language models (LLMs) developed in-house by the Apple Foundation Models team. They are responsible for designing, building, and deploying the foundation models powering Apple’s privacy-focused Apple Intelligence, which comprises the numerous AI capabilities that are embedded across Apple devices.
Linwood is expected to give Siri a complete “brain” makeover, by enabling the virtual assistant to understand natural language better, handle complex multi-turn conversation, and remember context over time.
Another key goal of this project is to enable Siri to use personalized data effectively. Past attempts to integrate personal data into Siri’s responses were hindered by reliability issues, but with the Models team at the helm of this project, Linwood’s rebuild is expected to finally deliver on the promise of using personalized data without raising privacy concerns.
Glenwood: Welcoming external AI partners
Under the Glenwood project, Apple, in a shift away from its traditionally closed approach, will be exploring external AI partnerships. The tech giant will be testing models from external AI providers to power Siri’s core intelligence, with Anthropic’s Claude model being the primary candidate, and other AI models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini.
This pivot from a closed system to an open system shows Apple’s strategic focus on assembling the best possible AI models rather than relying solely on in-house technology to build and/or power its own intelligence system.
This move comes months after Craig Federighi, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Software Engineering, instructed Siri engineers to do “whatever it takes to build the best AI features,” even if that means using and integrating third-party open-source models. He also recently described the Siri upgrade as a “complete end-to-end rebuild.”
Siri’s expanded features and capabilities
The upgraded Siri, as a result of both important projects, will not just be smarter but it will also be more capable of doing things. Key features and capabilities include:
- Conversation memory: Siri will maintain and remember context across multiple exchanges, which will allow for more natural and personalized interactions
- Advanced app integration: App Intent features will be more strengthened and it will allow Siri to seamlessly perform complex tasks that span different applications
- Personal data integration: The virtual assistant will use and leverage personal data to provide tailored suggestions and informed responses. And it will do this securely.
This Siri upgrade, through the Linwood and Glenwood projects, and under the leadership of Mike Rockwell, the former head of the Vision Pro team who took charge of Siri development earlier in the year, signals Apple’s determination to compete in the AI space that is already dominated by companies like Google, OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.
For Apple, they aim to deliver a state-of-the-art virtual assistant and further develop Apple intelligence by merging internally developed AI models with external models. These projects will for sure test Apple’s software innovation capabilities, especially in an era where generative AI plays an important role in consumer tech, a field the tech giant maintains a strong position in.
