Apple is moving toward production on a new generation of AirPods that carry built-in cameras and lean on third-party AI models to power Siri, a sharp pivot for a company that has spent the past two years trailing rivals in generative AI. The earbuds are designed to let users talk to Siri while the device sees what they see, a capability that pulls Apple onto the same turf as Meta's camera-equipped Ray-Ban glasses.
The hardware push comes alongside a separate shift in how Siri itself will work. Apple plans to let iPhone owners choose which large language model answers their queries, picking between Google's Gemini, Anthropic's Claude or OpenAI's ChatGPT rather than being locked to a single partner. Earlier reporting had suggested Apple was leaning toward an exclusive Gemini deal, making the multi-model approach a notable reversal.
We got the news that Apple's going to let you pick if you want Siri on your phone to be powered by Gemini, Clawed or chat GPT, Jaeden Schafer said on the podcast, calling the flexibility a strong move because frontier model quality keeps shifting between providers. Open questions remain over billing — whether users will need to sign in with paid ChatGPT or Claude accounts to access premium tiers through Siri.
Key facts
- 01Apple is nearing production on AirPods fitted with low-resolution cameras that let Siri see the wearer's surroundings.
- 02Siri on iPhone will be selectable across Google's Gemini, Anthropic's Claude or OpenAI's ChatGPT rather than tied to one partner.
- 03Apple has been ordered to pay roughly $250 million, or about $95 per buyer, over Apple Intelligence features missing from iPhone 15 and 16 models in the US.
- 04Apple is also developing an AI pendant and smart glasses, the latter aimed at the category Meta's Ray-Ban line has popularized.
The optimism is tempered by Apple's recent track record on shipping AI. Schafer noted that Apple has just been ordered to pay roughly $250 million in a US settlement covering iPhone 15 and 16 buyers who were promised Apple Intelligence features that did not arrive at launch. They got sued for felt false advertising, they got to pay $95 back to everyone that bought one of those phones, he said, framing the payout as a reminder that Apple's AI roadmap has consistently slipped.
“I think this is actually a really awesome hardware AI device.”— Jaeden Schafer
Even with that overhang, plugging Siri into existing third-party models is a far lighter lift than building a competitive foundation model in-house, which is why the AirPods plan looks more credible than past Apple Intelligence promises. The earbuds reportedly use low-resolution cameras — enough to give Siri visual context about a wearer's environment without turning AirPods into a streaming or photography device.
That bet on an existing form factor is the strategic core of the launch. Standalone AI gadgets such as the Humane Ai Pin and the Rabbit R1 have flopped after launch, struggling to justify their place alongside a phone. "We've seen a lot of hardware AI devices flop like the humane pin and the rabbit r1," Schafer said, arguing that AI hardware succeeds only when it grafts onto something people already wear daily, like a watch, glasses or earbuds.
By that logic, Apple's separately reported AI pendant project looks like the weaker bet, while smart glasses — a category Meta has effectively validated with the Ray-Ban line — and camera-equipped AirPods sit closer to existing consumer habits. AirPods in particular already have hundreds of millions of users, giving Apple a distribution advantage no AI hardware startup can match.
Timing remains unclear, and Apple has given no firm release window for the camera-equipped AirPods or for the redesigned Siri that would power them. If the company can ship on schedule and avoid another round of delayed features, the earbuds could become the first piece of mainstream AI hardware to reach scale — turning Apple's reliance on outside models from a weakness into a delivery shortcut.
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