Apple has reportedly developed a ChatGPT-like iPhone app for internal use in testing its AI overhaul of Siri. Apple’s AI unit is using the app to assess new features for its famous conversational assistant, putting it through its paces for tasks like sifting through personal data, including documents, audio and emails, and performing actions including photo and video editing, according to reports. Called Veritas, Latin for “truth,” the developmental software is garnering attention as a pivotal tool in Siri’s highly anticipated AI makeover, expected to make its public debut next year.

“Even without a public launch, the internal tool marks a new phase in Apple’s preparations for Siri’s overhaul, a high-stakes release that could reshape perceptions of its AI efforts,” writes Bloomberg, emphasizing the iPhone maker has a lot riding on its new software.

If Veritas works as expected, “it could help propel Apple toward an AI comeback,” but if it falls short, the company “risks slipping further behind smartphone rivals such as Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Samsung Electronics Co.”

Competition over AI phone features is expected to heat up in the year ahead and become for many a decisive factor in purchasing decisions. However, they’ve been keeping a low profile in Cupertino. “When Apple unveiled the iPhone 17 series this month, the company notably avoided highlighting its in-house AI platform,” Bloomberg observes.

To power the new Siri, Apple has built a platform referred to internally as Linwood, says Bloomberg, explaining that it “combines work from Apple’s own Foundation Models team with a third-party model,” likely Google’s Gemini.

The long wait could prove worth it for Apple, according to Computerworld, musing that the name Veritas “is also an ambition.” With AI hallucinations “as high as 10 percent to 70 percent,” depending on whose stats one is looking at, “if Apple can meet or exceed that, then it has a marketing campaign right there.”

Of course, Apple will need more than that. The company “ultimately aims to compete with ChatGPT and Perplexity offerings, but within the Siri interface itself,” per Bloomberg.

It sounds like the new iteration of Siri is aiming for agentic capabilities as well as computer vision, able to navigate devices and execute tasks, including acting on what is displayed onscreen. En route to that end point, Apple employees are using Veritas “to hold conversational back-and-forths and even revisit past interactions to explore topics further,” according to TechTimes.