Live Long and Ask Siri

In Star Trek, the ship’s computer was the real unsung hero of the show—fluent in alien tongues, plotting courses across galaxies, even patching up a warp core mid-battle.

Siri was supposed to be (kind of like) that.

When Apple launched it in 2011, the vision inside Cupertino was clear: this was step one toward the Star Trek computer in your pocket.

Jobs himself was a Trekkie, and Scott Forstall—then Apple’s software chief—later said that’s exactly what they were aiming for.

Alas, Siri hasn’t quite lived up to that North Star.

It didn’t become Starfleet’s computer. It became Silicon Valley’s longest-running punchline.

But maybe not for much longer…

This summer, headlines said Apple was circling Perplexity—the flashy AI search engine—at a $14 billion valuation.

Then Apple reportedly ditched the idea.

Nobody knew why.

Last week, Bloomberg revealed the reason: Siri.

And it might make for the biggest comeback story since Spock came back from the dead.

Perplexed!

Bloomberg dropped the news last week—Apple is building its own AI-powered search engine called World Knowledge Answers (WKA).

Think Perplexity, but native.

WKA will be baked into Siri. No download, no sign-up, no “try this new app.”

Just: you ask, your iPhone answers.

The equation is simple: Apple has 2.35 billion devices in the wild. Search is the gateway to knowledge. Whoever controls it, controls attention. And attention, at scale, is power.

But Apple didn’t need to buy Perplexity to do that.

When Apple spends big (Beats, AuthenTec, Shazam), they buy either brand power, irreplaceable IP, or deep infrastructure.

Perplexity wouldn’t have moved the needle for them.

Because the real story for Siri isn’t just search engines. It’s about a new way to interact with the internet.

The Most Beautiful Part

If Apple’s going to mount an AI comeback, it won’t be by copying Perplexity’s homework.

It’ll be by making Siri irresistible—powered by advanced voice-first tech.

“Voice-first” simply means technology designed to be controlled primarily through speech—where talking, not typing or tapping, is the main interface.

Just like the computer on Star Trek.

That’s where AI is ultimately headed…

And that’s why James believes one overlooked AI company could be Apple’s next move…

This company’s AI already powers hundreds of household name companies. Its platform runs across dozens of languages and billions of devices. And it doesn’t just answer questions—it understands them.

In real time. With context.

It has patents, customers, and real revenue. Exactly the kind of asset Apple can’t replicate overnight.

And here’s the most beautiful part: the company is still tiny.

Small enough that Apple could buy it with the spare change in its couch cushions. Big enough that, the moment it’s inside Apple’s ecosystem, Siri could go from punchline to powerhouse.

That’s why the “Perplexity question” was always the wrong question.

Apple doesn’t buy features.

They buy foundations.

And this company? It’s the foundation for the future of how we interact with AI.

He just recorded a time-sensitive video all about this company. Click here to watch before tomorrow, September 9.