Apple’s Siri upgrade is bringing some long-overdue AI capabilities to the voice assistant, but the company may not be done yet. The company is reportedly in talks with multiple publishers to use their content to keep Siri up to date on current news and events.
Content deals between AI companies and publishers aren’t new. OpenAI, Meta, Microsoft, and others have all signed similar deals with major publications to train their AI models, make them provide accurate real-time information, or, in some cases, both.
Apple’s approach is slightly different,* *The Wall Street Journal reports. Instead of paying a guaranteed fee, it is proposing a multi-year, variable compensation plan that pays publishers every time Siri fetches a response from their website. Sources tell the *Journal *that Apple is quoting a nine-figure budget for this program, but the deals might not include AI training rights.
Apple has struck deals with news platforms before. For its News+ service, which launched in 2019 and gave users access to premium newspapers and magazines for a monthly fee, Apple reportedly paid publishers 50% of the subscription fee, which was $9.99 per month at launch but is now $12.99 per month.
It's also faced some setbacks. Last year, Apple was forced to Apple Intelligence-powered notification summaries for news apps after the feature was caught spreading fake news. It returned months later with the fourth iOS 26 developer beta.
The Journal’s report arrives at a time when AI companies are being sued left, right, and center for using copyrighted content without authorization. For Apple, the timing is a bit more significant, as it's poised to deliver the Siri AI capabilities it has long promised. Siri AI is currently available via the public betas for its operating systems; stable versions are expected next month.