Apple Just Ended ChatGPT's Siri Monopoly — iOS 27 Opens the Door to Claude, Gemini, and 5 More AI Chatbots

Apple is about to hand the keys to Siri to seven different AI companies. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported on March 26 that iOS 27 will introduce an "Extensions" system letting users swap ChatGPT for Claude, Gemini, Copilot, Grok, Perplexity, Alexa, or Meta AI — directly inside Siri. The announcement is expected at WWDC on June 8, 2026.

If you've been stuck with ChatGPT as your only option when Siri hits its limits, that era ends this summer. And the implications for Anthropic, Google, and every AI company fighting for distribution are massive.

By the time you finish reading, you'll understand exactly how the new Extensions system works, why Apple made this move now, who wins and who loses, and what it means for the 2 billion active Apple devices worldwide.

How Siri Extensions Actually Work (It's Not What You Think)

The current Siri-ChatGPT integration is a one-way street. When Siri can't handle a request, it offers to pass your query to ChatGPT. You say yes, ChatGPT answers. No choice, no alternatives.

iOS 27 flips this model entirely. Instead of Apple cutting individual deals with AI providers, the new Extensions system works more like a marketplace. Any AI chatbot developer can build an Extension that plugs into Siri.

Here's the actual user flow, based on test versions of the upcoming OS: Go to Settings > Apple Intelligence > Extensions. You'll see a curated App Store section listing available AI chatbot apps. Install the ones you want — Claude, Gemini, Copilot, whatever. When Siri encounters a request it can't handle natively, you choose which installed Extension processes it.

That last part is critical: you choose at the point of asking. Not in a settings menu buried six screens deep. Not a default you set once and forget. Each time Siri defers to an AI, you pick which one handles it.

The Money Move Apple Doesn't Want You to Focus On

Apple collects up to 30% commission on App Store subscriptions. ChatGPT Plus costs $20/month. Claude Pro costs $20/month. Gemini Advanced costs $19.99/month.

Now multiply that across 2 billion active Apple devices. If even 5% of iPhone users subscribe to a third-party AI through Siri Extensions, Apple pockets somewhere between $1.8 billion and $3.6 billion annually in commission revenue — without building any AI models.

This is classic Apple strategy. They don't need to win the AI race. They just need to own the distribution layer. Every AI subscription flowing through Siri Extensions feeds Apple's services revenue, which hit $96.2 billion in fiscal 2025.

The OpenAI exclusive deal was always a stopgap. Apple needed something to ship with Apple Intelligence while they built out their own strategy. Now the real play is visible: become the app store for AI assistants.

The Google Relationship Is More Complicated Than Headlines Suggest

Here's where most coverage gets it wrong. Apple has two separate arrangements with Google, and confusing them leads to bad conclusions.

Arrangement 1: Gemini powering Siri's core. Earlier this year, Apple struck a deal for Google's Gemini models to rebuild the underlying technology powering Siri itself. This is about making Siri's native capabilities smarter — better natural language understanding, better context awareness, better on-device processing. This deal is not affected by Extensions.

Arrangement 2: Gemini as a Siri Extension. Separately, Google can offer the Gemini app as an Extension that users install and choose when Siri defers to a third-party chatbot. This is the consumer-facing product — Google's Gemini service answering your questions through Siri's UI.

So Google is simultaneously inside Siri (powering the engine) and alongside Siri (as an optional Extension). That's a uniquely powerful position no other AI company holds.

Winners and Losers: Who Gains Distribution, Who Loses It

Biggest winner: Anthropic. Claude has struggled with consumer distribution. Most people discover it through word of mouth or developer communities. Being one Siri Extension install away from 2 billion devices changes the math completely. Anthropic doesn't need to build a consumer brand from scratch anymore — Apple's UI does the marketing.

Second winner: Perplexity. The AI search engine has been growing fast but still fights for every user. Siri Extensions give it a native integration point that makes its search-first approach feel natural for voice queries.

Biggest loser: OpenAI (relatively). ChatGPT loses its exclusive position as Siri's only AI fallback. Will most users bother changing? Probably not initially. But the psychological shift matters — ChatGPT goes from "the only option" to "one of seven options." That's a very different brand position.

Wild card: xAI's Grok. Elon Musk's AI gets access to Apple's distribution channel. Given Musk's contentious relationship with Apple over the years, this is a strange-bedfellows moment. But Grok on Siri means X/Twitter's AI reaches beyond its own ecosystem for the first time.

What This Means for CarPlay and the Broader Ecosystem

Apple has already been testing the waters. Starting with iOS 26.4, AI chatbots can integrate with CarPlay for voice-based interactions. That quiet rollout was the proof of concept. iOS 27 Extensions are the full-scale launch.

The Extensions system will launch across iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27 simultaneously. That means your iPhone, iPad, and Mac all get the same AI choice architecture. Developers will need to update their apps after WWDC to support the new integration, so expect a rush of announcements in June and July.

For AI researchers and developers building on these platforms, the implications are clear: distribution through Apple's ecosystem is about to become the most valuable real estate in AI. Every chatbot provider will need an iOS app that supports Siri Extensions, or they're invisible to Apple's 2 billion users.

The Privacy Question Nobody Is Asking

When you use a Siri Extension, your query leaves Apple's ecosystem and enters the third-party AI provider's servers. Apple Intelligence processing happens on-device for many tasks. But the moment Siri hands off to Claude or Gemini, your data flows to Anthropic or Google's infrastructure.

Apple hasn't detailed what privacy controls Extensions will have. Will users see a consent prompt every time? Will there be a way to restrict what data Extensions can access? Will on-device queries stay on-device even when using an Extension?

Given Apple's privacy-first brand positioning, expect detailed disclosure requirements at WWDC. But until then, the privacy architecture of Extensions is the biggest unanswered question.

Apple doesn't need to build the best AI. It just needs to be the platform where you choose which AI to use. That's always been Apple's real superpower — not making the technology, but owning the moment of decision. iOS 27 is that strategy applied to artificial intelligence, and every AI company from Anthropic to xAI just became an Apple App Store tenant.