Apple’s next Siri revamp is reportedly being positioned around privacy, including controls for automatically deleting AI chat histories. Bloomberg reported on May 17, 2026 that Apple’s planned ChatGPT-like Siri app could include auto-delete options such as 30 days, one year, or indefinite retention. TechCrunch summarized the same report and noted that the app is expected to be powered by Google Gemini.
This is still a report, not a shipped feature. Treat it as a WWDC 2026 watch item until Apple formally announces what Siri will do, when it ships, and which model provider handles which parts of the stack.
What changed
The reported feature reframes Siri’s AI delay around a concrete privacy control: users may be able to choose how long conversations remain available. That would put chat retention into the first-run privacy conversation instead of burying it in account settings.
The report also says Apple’s standalone Siri app would look more like a modern chatbot, which would make Siri a more direct competitor to ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity on iPhone.
Why this matters
AI assistants are moving from one-off answers to persistent personal context. That makes retention defaults a buyer question, not a footnote. If Apple turns auto-delete into a mainstream AI feature, users may start asking the same retention questions of every chatbot they use.
For Google, the reported Gemini role would also matter: a successful Siri relaunch could make Gemini infrastructure visible to a much broader Apple audience, even if the user-facing product is branded as Siri.
Buyer take
Do not switch tools based on this report alone. If you need a full AI assistant today, ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity remain the practical choices. If you are privacy-sensitive and can wait, watch Apple’s WWDC details for retention controls, provider disclosure, on-device processing claims, and limits compared with rival assistants.
What to watch next
Watch whether Apple labels the new Siri as beta, whether Gemini is confirmed onstage, whether chat deletion applies to model-provider logs as well as local history, and whether Apple exposes enterprise controls for managed devices.
Sources
Primary and corroborating references used for this news item.