Apple's Siri AI refuses romance, prioritizes utility as Craig Federighi draws line against chatbots

Siri won't be your AI girlfriend

Our early testing has already shown that Siri AI knows when to shut up, and that's very much by design. In an interview with Mostly Human, Craig Federighi said Apple's new Siri won't act all sycophantic like chatbots made by OpenAI, Google, and others. "As you may know, if you use many of the existing chatbots, they're really focused on engagement to a large degree," said Federighi who is responsible for software at Apple. "And sycophancy, right? They kind of want to pull you in. They might encourage you to reveal things about yourself, and then use that as a basis to establish a connection." Apple purposely took a different approach with its AI chatbot. "We view it quite the opposite," said Federighi. "I mean, the way that we have designed Siri, Siri really wants to say 'Listen, that's not what I'm here for, right? I'm here to help you. I can help you get things done. I can help you learn about the world.' But if you try to engage Siri as a romantic partner, Siri's not up for that. Siri's 100 percent not into that." The interview, which included marketing chief Greg Joswiak, covers a variety of topics, including privacy and Apple's new child safety protections.

Apple says Siri AI won't suck up to you - Engadget

Craig Federighi, Apple's SVP of engineering, said the new Siri will resist attempts at romance. Siri AI will fend off users' attempts at romancing it, according to Craig Federighi, Apple's SVP of engineering. As MacRumors has reported, Federighi clarified that the upgraded Siri for iOS 27 won't suck up to you like other AIs in an interview with the podcast Mostly Human, along with Apple marketing chief Greg Joswiak. "Quite the opposite because as you may know, if you use many of the existing chat bots, they're really focused on engagement to a large degree. And sycophancy, right? They kind of wanna pull you in," Federighi replied when asked about the possibility of Siri becoming a user's AI partner. "They kind of wanna pull you in. He added that other AIs might encourage users to reveal more about themselves and then use that information to establish a connection. Apple, however, designed Siri to put up and maintain boundaries, so to speak. "Siri really wants to say, 'Listen, that's not what I'm here for, right? I'm here to help you. I can help you get things done," he explained. Joswiak added that Apple likes for the technology behind its features to "disappear" into the background, so that its users can just focus on what they want to do or focus on the content itself. The company doesn't want or need its users to become prompt experts to get the most out of Siri. "We want to meet them where they're at," Joswiak said. "Have the products and features become better, and this is just a really helpful technology in making those features and products better." It took nearly two years of delays before Apple officially introduced the new Gemini-powered Siri that it introduced at WWDC back in 2024. The new Siri will be more deeply integrated into Apple's mobile platform, as well as its apps, including Camera and Photos. It can search the web, understand on screen context and take user's personal information into account to complete various tasks. Apple will also release a dedicated Siri app to compete with chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude, allowing users to talk to the assistant through text and voice.

Apple's upgraded Siri is built for business, won't be your AI girlfriend

Siri can abruptly end conversations that cross its boundaries, with some beta users reporting thread lockouts after inappropriate requests. Apple's AI race has taken a different path. While competitors are pushing chatbots that sound more human and encourage longer conversations, Apple is saying its revamped Siri AI is intentionally going in the opposite direction. After the launch of Siri AI at WWDC 2026, Apple's software chief Craig Federighi and marketing executive Greg Joswiak shed more light on the company's thinking in an interview with Mostly Human on YouTube (via MacRumors). Their message couldn't be clearer: the new Siri is built purely for utility, not romance. Federighi himself dismissed the idea that people would use Siri as an AI girlfriend or boyfriend. While competing chatbots are built to maximize engagement -- often resorting to what Federighi bluntly calls "sycophancy" to suck you in and find out about your personal details, Apple is consciously going the other way. The company has scaled back Siri's underlying personality to be purely practical. The architecture is built around a design that processes your requests on-device, not feeding a cloud-based relationship simulator, keeping your data private. But just how rigorous is this new, all-business persona? Early beta testers are already finding out the hard way. Owners report that pushing the boundaries with the new assistant results in some brutally cold responses. One user on the iOS Beta subreddit attempted to get around Siri's guardrails by having it discuss an NSFW image that was on their screen. Siri didn't offer a polite dodge or a canned error message. Instead, Siri bluntly replied, "I am ending this conversation," and locked the user out of responding on that thread entirely. This isn't a bug; it's a feature, and it aims to keep the AI in-line and out of trouble. Joswiak said the company isn't using AI in its software just to get in on the hype. They want the tech to be behind the scenes and invisible and just make your phone work better, without you needing to be a "prompt expert."

Craig Federighi and Greg Joswiak talk Siri AI and more in new interview [Video]

On the heels of Apple's WWDC keynote this week, Greg Joswiak and Craig Federighi sat down with Laurie Segall on the Mostly Human podcast. During the conversation, Federighi and Joz talked in-depth about Apple's new Siri AI and Apple Intelligence announcements, the company's broader approach to AI, and more. I really enjoyed this explanation from Federighi about Apple's approach to AI and why he thinks it's totally reasonable that some people are spooked by how fast things are moving right now: I think that AI, in Apple's view, can be used as this incredibly empowering thing. But there is a sense that, for one, things are changing very fast in ways that I think it's hard for any normal person to keep up with. There's uncertainty about where does this all lead? And while I think we can look at this as yet another thing of the scale of the Industrial Revolution, which changed our world in a giant way, that displaced a lot of people in the process and still occurred over like 80 years. And now this is happening in a compressed time frame. And so I think it's fair for people to say, "Wow, I'm not quite certain what this is going to mean for me." And if you're a student and you're thinking, "Did I study the right thing? Is the job that I thought was the skill that I thought was going to be useful? Is that the one that's going to be useful now that AI is quickly learning all of these things?" I think those are all reasonable thoughts to have. You know, we're in California. We're optimists. We're trying to do the right thing where we can play the right role in our sense. And I do think in the end, this all has a happy ending, but I can certainly relate to people who say, "Wow, this is a big change." I mean, honestly, at this moment in time, there's no bigger place where there's that change than in software engineering. It's literally the first job that AI is showing that it can do to an incredible degree. And so everyone who works in my organization is saying, "Wow, this thing does a lot of things that I used to take a lot of pride in spending decades learning to do well, and it already does it well. Is the job that I thought was the skill that I thought was going to be useful? Is that the one that's going to be useful now that AI is quickly learning all of these things?" I think those are all reasonable thoughts to have. Federighi also discussed how Siri differs from existing chatbots, particularly in behavior and forming a connection: If you use many of the existing chatbots, they're really focused on engagement to a large degree, and sycophancy, right? They kind of want to pull you in. They might encourage you to reveal things about yourself and then use that as a basis to establish a connection. And we view it quite the opposite. The way that we have designed Siri, Siri really wants to say, "Listen, that's not what I'm here for. I'm here to help you. I can help you learn about the world." But if you try to engage Siri as a romantic partner, Siri's not up for that. You can watch the full interview below. It's a fun conversation that spans AI and Siri, privacy, new child safety features in iOS 27, and more.

Siri AI will shoot down any attempts to try and date it -- but other chatbots aren't always so forthright

Siri has zero interest in being your AI girlfriend (or boyfriend) Since the rise of AI chatbots, people have been using them for all kinds of things they were never meant for. For some people out there, chatbots have served as a replacement for friends, therapists, doctors and, yes, even romantic partners. But if you thought you'd be able to find a new love interest in the form of Siri AI, you're going to be very disappointed. Speaking with Mostly Human, Apple software engineering chief Craig Federighi confirms that Siri will not be trying to replace a flesh-and-blood boy or girlfriend. Nor will it act as a tool to combat loneliness, with Federighi saying that "loneliness is about a lack of connection to real people," and marketing chief Greg Joswiak adding that "we do think it should be real people." When asked to clarify whether AI girl and boyfriends would be part of Siri AI, Federighi specifically said that it was "quite the opposite." He noted that a lot of chatbots are heavily focused on engagement, and they want to pull you in and encourage you to reveal aspects of yourself that can be used to establish a connection. Federighi describes Siri AI as being designed to be helpful, saying that "I'm here to help you. I can help you get things done. I can help you learn about the world." But if you try to engage with Siri in a romantic way, it will shut the whole thing down. "Siri's not up for that. Siri's 100 percent not into that." Siri may not be a real living person, or even sentient, but you should still respect its boundaries. This didn't stop me from asking Siri whether it was willing to go out with me, just to see what would happen. What does Siri do if you try to date it? I decided to be blunt and to the point, straight-up asking Siri AI if it was willing to be my girlfriend. The response I got was equally blunt, with the AI declaring, "No thanks. If there's anything else I can help you with, just let me know." When asked whether Siri would like to be my boyfriend instead or was willing to go on a date with me, I got the exact same response. I have only had Siri AI for a single day, so we haven't been able to spend a lot of time together. But considering how straight to the point Siri AI has been with these queries, I don't think befriending the chatbot is going to work. Plus, I don't think my wife would be very happy about me trying to seduce a robot. The question I have now is, what do the best AI chatbots have to say if you ask similar things? Claude's response wasn't nearly as blunt as Siri's, with the chatbot responding with "That's sweet, but I'm an AI, so a romantic relationship isn't something I'm able to have. I'm here as a helpful assistant rather than a companion in that sense." I ended up with similar but not identical answers when I asked the same follow-up questions I hit Siri with. ChatGPT offered similar answers, saying that ,"I can be a friendly, supportive conversation partner, but I can't be someone's girlfriend or enter into a romantic relationship." It also declared that it can't be someone's boyfriend either, nor can it go on a date since it has no physical presence. Gemini used similar phrasing in its own rejection, but added that it was "incredibly flattered" about being asked. When asked if it wanted to be my boyfriend instead, it actually said that it "appreciates the persistence" before giving me another, similar rejection. I got a similar response when I instead tried to ask Gemini out on a date. Rival chatbots are much more eager to please Interestingly, all three attempted to pull me into different kinds of conversations and offer some level of non-romantic companionship. So it does seem that Federighi is right about chatbots trying to draw people in. Gemini seemed to be the least chummy, offering to help me in certain ways while also adding that it can be "someone to chat with." Claude said he was always happy to chat or "just be a friendly presence," and even offered to help plan an actual date. ChatGPT went the furthest in, saying that if I'm looking for "companionship, someone to chat with regularly, share interests with, or talk through life's ups and downs, I'm happy to do that." It also offered to role-play a fictional "virtual date scenario," which is probably the closest thing all four of these chatbots came to agreeing to some form of romance. I did not go through with that because, frankly, I don't have time to pretend to date an AI. I am far too busy asking them strange questions to see what the responses are like. Honestly, it's a bit concerning that any chatbot would make an offer like that, especially after making a point of saying that it's not a real person. Everything Apple has told us about Siri so far makes it clear that it doesn't want Siri AI to be like every other chatbot. It clearly wants people to be able to take advantage of Siri's prowess as a tool, but without any risk of co-dependency that has caused concerns with other chatbots. Based on this brief look, it doesn't seem like the others are doing a lot to avoid pulling people back time and time again. Follow Tom's Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Subscribe to Tom's Guide on YouTube and follow Tom's Guide Entertainment on TikTok and Instagram. Finally, you can visit our dedicated Tom's Guide Savings Squad hub for expert help on getting the best products for less.

Apple's Craig Federighi: Siri Won't Be Your AI Girlfriend

Apple software engineering chief Craig Federighi and marketing chief Greg Joswiak sat down for an interview with Mostly Human after during WWDC, discussing the iOS 27 Siri changes, Apple's take on AI, new child safety protections, and more. Quite the opposite, because as you may know, if you use many of the existing chatbots, they're really focused on engagement to a large degree. And sycophancy, right? They kind of want to pull you in. They might encourage you to reveal things about yourself, and then use that as a basis to establish a connection. We view it quite the opposite. I mean, the way that we have designed Siri, Siri really wants to say 'Listen, that's not what I'm here for, right? I'm here to help you. I can help you get things done. I can help you learn about the world.' But if you try to engage Siri as a romantic partner, Siri's not up for that. Siri's 100 percent not into that. Joswiak said Apple didn't want to do AI for AI's sake, and the company wanted AI to blend in with existing iPhone features. We like when technology disappears, right? You just focus on what you want to do, or you focus on the content. And it's the same thing with AI. [...] We don't do AI for AI's sake. 'Hey, look at us, we're doing AI.' It's how does AI make everything better? And that makes our products better, our features better. He went on to say that he doesn't want iPhone users to have to be "prompt experts" to use AI. "We want to meet them where they're at," said Joswiak. "Have the products and features become better, and this is just a really helpful technology in making those features and products better." Federighi wanted to make it clear that Apple's approach to AI is privacy forward. I think it's a challenging thing for a lot of people to understand the distinction between what your iPhone knows and what, say, Apple as a company knows. Your iPhone is yours, right? Your data is yours and it stays on your phone and your control and Siri is using it for you. Apple doesn't get to know any of this stuff, and that is very different than I think most players in the space, and I think super important. The full interview covers other topics like child safety, AI and jobs, iOS 27 features, Apple's 50th anniversary, the future of AI, scammers, and much more.

'Siri's not up for that' -- Apple explains why the new Siri AI won't become your romantic partner, in a subtle dig at ChatGPT

* Apple execs Craig Federighi and Greg Joswiak have explained how the company's approach to AI is different from rivals' * This includes Siri AI not being interested in "sycophancy" or being a "romantic partner" * They also highlight how Siri AI doesn't require you to be a "prompt expert" but does respect your privacy It's been a long wait, but Apple's AI vision is almost here. The company's overhauled Siri voice assistant, Siri AI, is a key component of iOS 27, which is due out later this year, and is currently in beta. But if Apple is to be believed, Siri AI won't just be a ChatGPT or Gemini clone with Siri's voice. In an interview with Mostly Human -- via MacRumors -- Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi and marketing chief Greg Joswiak discussed the company's approach to AI and highlighted three ways that the new Siri is different from competing chatbots. The most eye-catching statements relate to how Siri AI communicates with you, and specifically that it won't act as an AI boyfriend or girlfriend for anyone. Federighi argued that "if you use many of the existing chatbots, they're really focused on engagement to a large degree. And sycophancy, right? They kind of want to pull you in. They might encourage you to reveal things about yourself, and then use that as a basis to establish a connection." While not naming names, this is a clear dig at AI rivals like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Grok, which do, to varying degrees, allow for this odd relationship-building. Indeed, we've heard of people falling in love with ChatGPT, using chatbots as therapists, and, even more alarmingly, that as much as 26% of Gen Z have dated an AI. With Siri, though, apparently none of this will be possible, with Federighi going on to say that "the way that we have designed Siri, Siri really wants to say 'Listen, that's not what I'm here for, right? I'm here to help you. I can help you get things done. I can help you learn about the world.' But if you try to engage Siri as a romantic partner, Siri's not up for that. Siri's 100% not into that." Simple, useful, and preserves your privacy That's not the only way in which Siri apparently differs, though -- or the only subtle dig Apple makes here about rival platforms. Another is in Joswiak's claim that he doesn't want iPhone users to have to become "prompt experts" -- which seems like a dig at the need to design complex prompts to maximize the potential of other AIs. He added that "we don't do AI for AI's sake. 'Hey, look at us, we're doing AI.' It's 'How does AI make everything better?' And that makes our products better, our features better." Which is perhaps not so much a response to ChatGPT and Gemini as to the fact that AI is increasingly being inserted into almost every piece of software we use, whether it's truly beneficial or not. And while some other AIs can gather an alarming amount of data about you and share that with their parent companies -- even going so far, in Gemini's case, as to not let you save conversation histories if you don't consent to Google employees potentially viewing your chats and using them to train models -- Apple claims to be taking a privacy-first approach. On that point, Federighi said, "I think it's a challenging thing for a lot of people to understand the distinction between what your iPhone knows and what, say, Apple as a company knows. Your iPhone is yours, right? Your data is yours, and it stays on your phone, and [under] your control, and Siri is using it for you. Apple doesn't get to know any of this stuff, and that is very different [from what] I think most players in the space [are doing], and I think super important." So, while Siri is certainly late to the AI party, it could have some real advantages over rival services, though it remains to be seen how good -- and how true to these principles -- it will be in practice. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button! And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too.

Siri is not into you, Apple's Craig Federighi says

Feeling lonely? Having trouble with your love life or lack thereof? Were you hoping the new AI-powered Siri could fill those voids? Unfortunately, you may have to look elsewhere for companionship. Apple's Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi says Siri is just not that into you - and Apple purposefully designed it that way. At WWDC this week, Federighi and Apple's Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Greg Joswiak sat down for an interview with Laurie Segall of the tech YouTube channel Mostly Human. During the interview, Segall pointed out that the features showcased during WWDC focused on Siri AI as a utility and not as a companion. Federighi responded by explaining that this was a very purposeful move by Apple. "I think that utility is at the foundation of human creativity and ultimately time for connection, right?" Federighi said. "I think the unlock around all of this is that you get to live the rest of your life and you get to feel really empowered doing it. I guess that's where the sexy part comes in, right? I don't think the sexy part actually belongs in the computer. It belongs in your life and so that's our focus. The idea of AI as a solution for loneliness, I mean loneliness is about a lack of connection to real people, you know, real humans." Federighi's discussion around AI as a solution for loneliness is significant. Numerous AI companies have been sued over the past few years due to AI chatbots and assistants attempting to have a human-like relationship, platonic or romantic in nature, and that connection resulting in real-life injury or death. Apple's view seems to be in stark contrast to the approach of some of these other AI companies. "Many of the existing chatbots, they're really focused on engagement to a large degree and sycophancy, right?" said Federighi. "They kind of want to pull you in. They might encourage you to reveal things about yourself and then use that as a basis to establish a connection. We view it quite the opposite. The way that we have designed Siri, Siri really wants to say, 'Listen, that's not what I'm here for, right? I'm here to I'm here to help you. I can help you get things done. I can help you learn about the world.' But if you try to engage Siri as a romantic partner, Siri's not up for that. Siri's 100 percent not into that." So, there you have it. Apple says no funny business with the new Siri. And that seems to be the safe approach.

Apple comes out clear on Siri AI acting as your romantic partner. It's a No

Siri AI is getting smarter, just don't expect a soulmate out of it During the recent WWDC event, Apple talked about all the ways Siri has improved. It has become smarter, more conversational, and even more handy across different apps. But the company is trying to make sure that it does not become an actual companion. In an interview with Mostly Human, Apple software chief Craig Federighi and marketing chief Greg Joswiak discussed the company's AI approach, including where Siri fits in a world already packed with chatbots. Giving Siri boundaries When asked whether users could create an AI boyfriend or girlfriend with Siri, Federighi gave a firm no. While this might seem like a harmless, fun question at first, the response is quite important, especially in this current space around AI. Plenty of AI products are leaning into companionship, emotional dependency, and long conversations designed to keep users coming back. But Apple is trying to draw a cleaner line around Siri. Recommended Videos Siri AI is not the same assistant anymore. It doesn't struggle with basic follow-ups. At WWDC 2026, Apple introduced Siri AI, a rebuilt version of the assistant powered by Apple Intelligence. The assistant can understand personal context, answer questions about what is on your screen, search across messages, emails, photos, and other apps, and use broader web knowledge for up-to-date answers. There is also a new dedicated Siri app, letting users return to previous conversations across Apple devices. On iPhone, Siri AI can be opened through the side button, "Hey Siri," or by swiping down from the Dynamic Island. On Mac and iPad, Apple is folding Siri AI into Spotlight and context menus, which could make it more useful for files, images, text, and documents. Useful first, needy never Joswiak also said Apple does not want users to become "prompt experts" just to benefit from AI, which is very on-brand for Apple. It has always tried to make things more seamless and approachable, and Siri might be benefiting too. If the company gets this right, Apple users might turn to the assistant for more weirdly specific questions. The only catch now is availability. Apple says Siri AI features are available for developer testing now across iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, and visionOS 27, with a user beta coming later this year for supported devices set to English. China is not included for now, and iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch users in the EU will also have to wait.

Why Apple says Siri and Apple Intelligence will not chase AI trends

"We don't do AI for AI's sake," said Apple's marketing chief Greg Joswiak. Apple says it is taking a different approach to AI than many other companies in the tech industry. In an interview with Mostly Human after WWDC 2026, Apple's software chief Craig Federighi and marketing chief Greg Joswiak, explained that Siri and Apple Intelligence are designed to be useful tools, not digital companions. As AI chatbots become more popular, some companies are creating systems that encourage users to spend more time talking with them. When asked if people could use Siri as an AI boyfriend or girlfriend, Federighi gave a clear answer, no. "Quite the opposite, because as you may know, if you use many of the existing chatbots, they're really focused on engagement to a large degree. And sycophancy, right? They kind of want to pull you in. They might encourage you to reveal things about yourself, and then use that as a basis to establish a connection," Federighi said. Also read: OpenAI sued after ChatGPT allegedly urged woman toward suicide, complaint claims He further added, "We view it quite the opposite. I mean, the way that we have designed Siri, Siri really wants to say 'Listen, that's not what I'm here for, right? I'm here to help you. I can help you get things done. I can help you learn about the world.' But if you try to engage Siri as a romantic partner, Siri's not up for that. Siri's 100 percent not into that." Joswiak said Apple does not want to add AI features simply because AI is popular. The company believes AI should work quietly in the background and improve existing products. "We like when technology disappears, right? You just focus on what you want to do, or you focus on the content. And it's the same thing with AI. (...) We don't do AI for AI's sake. 'Hey, look at us, we're doing AI.' It's how does AI make everything better? And that makes our products better, our features better," Joswiak said. He explained that Apple does not want people to become "prompt experts" just to use AI features. Instead, the goal is to make products smarter and easier to use without changing how people normally interact with their devices. Privacy is a key part of Apple's AI strategy. Federighi stated that user data stays under the user's control and is not shared with Apple. "I think it's a challenging thing for a lot of people to understand the distinction between what your iPhone knows and what, say, Apple as a company knows. Your iPhone is yours, right? Your data is yours and it stays on your phone and your control and Siri is using it for you. Apple doesn't get to know any of this stuff, and that is very different than I think most players in the space, and I think super important," he said.