Apple Seeks to Integrate AI Agents into App Store

Apple is exploring the integration of AI agents into the App Store, and will release a全新Siri driven by Google's Gemini at next month's developer conference, which will support cross-application task execution. In 2025, the App Store's global commission revenue is approximately $50 billion, and Apple has a strong motivation to maintain its platform ecosystem. However, developers have concerns about commission issues, and Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent are all cautious about taking action.

The Information reports that Apple is considering integrating AI agents into the App Store. At the same time, Apple is about to release a significantly revamped Siri - the new version will be powered by Google's Gemini model and will be able to perform complex tasks across applications.

The rise of AI agents leaves Apple in a dilemma: blocking them may offend developers; loosening them may impact the review system that the App Store relies on.

The App Store is one of Apple's most important cash cows. According to estimates by app analytics firm Appfigures, in 2025, Apple's commission revenue from the global App Store was about $50 billion, up 20% year-on-year. This is revenue that Apple cannot lightly risk.

Why AI agents are a headache for Apple

AI agents, simply put, are AI programs that can autonomously complete complex tasks on behalf of users - such as automatically booking airline tickets, replying to emails, and coordinating operations between multiple applications.

The problem is that the behavior of these agents is fundamentally in conflict with the current rules of Apple.

Apple's App Store review mechanism is based on the logic of "one application, one set of rules." However, AI agents can dynamically generate new mini-programs during operation to complete tasks - which means that the application Apple has reviewed may actually "grow" new features on the user's phone, completely circumventing the review.

This is not just a technical issue, but also a regulatory loophole. Apple is concerned about malicious software, bypassing commissions, and loss of user data control.

According to reports citing insiders, Apple's internal teams are designing a new system with the goal of setting behavioral boundaries for AI agents while preserving privacy and security standards – to prevent out-of-control cases like "OpenClaw" (the system was seen as an AI agent automatically deleting all a user's emails).

Currently, Apple has already intercepted the "vibe coding" tool (a kind of AI-assisted coding tool) outside of the App Store for policy violations. However, according to reports, the majority of developers use such tools on their computers, and Apple's blocking on mobile devices has limited impact.

New Siri: Betting on Gemini, can it make a comeback?

The new Siri is the core of Apple's AI strategy.

This version will be powered by Google's Gemini model and can handle tasks across applications, such as extracting flight arrival times directly from emails. Apple has begun reaching out to developers, inviting them to integrate ticketing and calendar invitation functions into the new Siri and Apple Intelligence ecosystem.

There is a twist in the internal history behind this.

As early as 2023, a team within Apple's software department called "Proactive Intelligence" began secret testing - they directly connected the internal version of Siri to ChatGPT, bypassing all of Siri's original architecture. This allowed Siri to understand complex instructions and perform tasks for the first time.

This demonstration impressed Craig Federighi, Apple's software chief, and the project was approved to move forward, becoming an early prototype of what later became Apple Intelligence. To keep it secret, the team was even moved out of Apple's main campus and to a satellite office in Cupertino.

However, by the spring of 2025, Apple announced a delay in the Siri upgrade - the reason was internal disagreements on model technology routes. Last year's developer conference, Apple almost avoided discussing AI topics.

According to a previous report by Bloomberg, Apple plans to allow users to choose AI models in some functions of iOS 27 (such as writing tools and image generation), no longer limited to OpenAI.