Apple wants to make Siri AI better at keeping up with the news

Siri may soon be (finally) able to tell you more about what is happening in the world right now, but Apple could have to pay publishers a lot of money to make that happen.

According to an Aug. 12 report by the Wall Street Journal, Apple has approached several news publishers in recent months about giving its forthcoming Siri AI assistant access to their content. The proposed multiyear deals would help Siri answer questions about current events and other information that changes in real time.

Apple has reportedly discussed setting aside a nine-figure budget for the partnerships. Its proposed payment structure would compensate publishers whenever their reporting is used, according to the Journal. That differs from many existing AI licensing deals, which typically pay publishers a guaranteed fee in exchange for broader access to their content.

It is unclear which publishers Apple has contacted or whether any agreements have been finalized. Apple declined to comment to the Journal.

The negotiations come as Apple prepares to roll out a significantly upgraded version of Siri. Siri AI is expected to enter beta later this year, with new capabilities that allow the assistant to understand personal context, recognize what is on a user’s screen, and complete actions across apps.

Apple already has established relationships with publishers through Apple News+, its paid news subscription service that launched in 2019. The company has also previously paid for access to content through deals that included the right to use publishers’ work for AI training, the Journal reported.

Apple has also already learned how quickly AI-generated news can go wrong. In late 2024, the company began offering AI-generated notification summaries that sometimes rewrote news alerts inaccurately. Apple eventually disabled the feature for news and entertainment apps following complaints from publishers.

The latest talks arrive as news organizations decide how, or whether, to work with the companies building AI products. Publishers, including News Corp and Axel Springer, have signed content deals with OpenAI, while The New York Times is suing OpenAI and Microsoft over the alleged unauthorized use of its reporting.

For publishers, Apple’s proposed pay-per-use system would offer another way to make money from the AI products increasingly answering questions that once sent readers directly to news websites. For Apple, it could help ensure that when users ask Siri what is happening right now, the assistant finally has a useful answer.

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April 2025 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.