Apple has had a complicated relationship with AI. Siri has been a punchline for years, and the Apple Intelligence rollout stumbled out of the gate. The company has been leaning on OpenAI’s ChatGPT to fill the gaps ever since iOS 18. That arrangement gave OpenAI a unique spot on over a billion iPhones. But Mark Gurman’s latest Bloomberg report says iOS 27 third-party AI support is set to blow that exclusivity wide open.
The plan reportedly lands this fall alongside iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27. It lets users pick AI models for tasks across Apple Intelligence, covering Siri, Writing Tools, and Image Playground.
How Apple’s Extensions System Works
Apple is calling the feature “Extensions” internally. Install a supported AI app and it shows up in your settings, ready to handle specific tasks. Gurman’s report builds on an earlier March leak we covered when it first surfaced. It now confirms Apple has been testing iOS 27 third-party AI integrations with at least Google and Anthropic alongside the existing ChatGPT setup.
There’s even a voice distinction baked in. Siri will reportedly use one voice for its own responses and a different voice when a third-party model takes over. That way you can actually tell which AI is talking. Apple is also planning a dedicated App Store section for compatible AI apps, making it easier to get started.
Worth keeping in mind: this is separate from Apple’s backend deal with Google. Under that arrangement, Apple is using Gemini models to rebuild parts of Siri itself. The Extensions system sits on top of that. It works a lot like third-party keyboards: installed apps handle specific tasks when you opt them in, rather than replacing Siri outright.
Apple has missed its own AI deadlines before, so treat iOS 27 third-party AI support as a strong rumor until WWDC on June 8. That’s when Apple is expected to officially unveil iOS 27. If it ships as described, this would be Siri’s biggest external AI change since Apple added ChatGPT two years ago.
