Siri Gets a Makeover: Apple rolls out its new AI-powered assistant

Apple has rolled out Siri AI, its AI-powered revamp of the virtual assistant, as a beta feature in iOS 27, giving the assistant the ability to analyze on-screen content, operate apps, and pull information from messages, calendar, and other apps. The launch follows years of Siri lagging behind rival AI models since its 2011 debut on the iPhone 4S, and Apple says the assistant's advantage is its access to the iOS ecosystem and third-party apps, making developer adoption a key factor in its success.

Siri Gets a Makeover: Apple rolls out its new AI-powered assistant It is no secret that Siri, among the earliest virtual assistants and part of the Apple ecosystem since iPhone 4S way back in 2011, has struggled in the AI age. Users have caught on to AI models capable of executing sophisticated tasks, while using Siri mainly for simple tasks like playing music or setting alarms. Apple is now trying to change this. It has just rolled out Siri AI, its much-delayed AI-powered revamp of the virtual assistant, as part of its iOS 27 software. Although it is still a beta feature, it is available for almost everyone. The new Siri is a major overhaul. It can analyse what’s on your screen, operate apps, and respond to queries and tasks by accessing information stored in your messages, calendar, and other apps. The advantage Siri has over other AI assistants is that it will be able to access the iOS ecosystem and your apps. This is not too different from Google, whose AI assistant can also work through Google’s Android operating system and apps. The Identity Project 11 Sep 2026 - Vol 05 | Issue 37 Amit Shah leads the mission for a national demographic correction Read Now The Identity Project https://openthemagazine.com/magazine/the-identity-project How successful Siri AI will eventually become will depend on a large part on how much third-party developers play along. Third party developers may find more visibility and use if they allow their apps to work easily with the new Siri. It may be a much-delayed launch, but a new Siri is finally here. Game On In a push to make games accessible even beyond its app, popular gaming platform Roblox will begin allowing creators to distribute their games as standalone apps across devices. According to the platform, it will provide the underlying technology and services for these apps that will be accessible on consoles, PCs and mobile devices. By year end, players will also be able to join games in Chrome from a game’s Experience Details page without downloading an app. Headset Go Valve, the game publisher and consumer hardware developer, has just come out with its latest VR headset, Steam Frame, which has left many excited. At $1,299 for a device with 1TB storage, it might be among the costliest headsets around, but it is also said to be lighter and more comfortable than others. Completely wireless, it can run both flat and VR games as well as stream games from your PC. Grok on MS Office Last year, Microsoft had announced that it was adding SpaceXAI’s Grok models to its Foundry service. Now, this is being expanded to Copilot, which means Grok can now be used in Microsoft’s Word, Excel and PowerPoint softwares. The company claims it is starting with a preview release so it can “gather feedback”. All of this means that Office Copilot users can now choose between a variety of AI models from OpenAI’s GPT models and Anthropic’s Claude to SpaceXAI’s Grok.