Apple might not be setting the pace in artificial intelligence just yet, but it’s still making a huge amount of money from the generative AI boom. A new analysis suggests that Apple’s earnings from AI-powered apps are already massive in 2025 and could climb even higher in 2026, thanks to the company’s powerful position at the center of the iPhone and iPad app economy.
According to data from AppMagic, Apple brought in about $900 million in fees from generative AI apps in 2025 alone. The biggest driver by far was OpenAI’s ChatGPT, responsible for roughly 75% of that total. By comparison, xAI’s Grok contributed only around 5% to Apple’s overall take from generative AI apps.
That revenue gap highlights a bigger reality about the App Store: even when Apple isn’t the company building the most popular AI services, it still profits heavily from the apps people subscribe to. Apple typically takes up to 30% of subscription revenue, meaning the more consumers pay for premium AI features, the more Apple earns as the platform owner.
If current trends hold, Apple’s fees from generative AI apps are on track to top $1 billion in 2026. That projected milestone underscores how the company continues to benefit from the ongoing shift toward subscription-based AI tools for writing, image generation, productivity, research, and coding.
At the same time, Apple is preparing its own major AI push through Siri. The company is expected to roll out a revamped Siri this year, aiming to finally deliver long-promised upgrades such as in-app actions, personal context awareness, and on-screen awareness. In practical terms, that means Siri should be able to take more “agent-like” actions across apps by understanding what you’re doing on your screen and by using relevant personal data to help complete tasks.
This upgraded Siri is expected to be powered by a custom model described as a 1.2-trillion-parameter system, internally referred to as Apple Foundation Models version 10.
Looking beyond that, Apple is reportedly planning an even bigger Siri evolution with next year’s iOS 27 update: a dedicated Siri chatbot experience built directly into Apple’s software rather than released as a standalone app. The plan is said to involve running the system on Google’s TPU hardware and cloud infrastructure, while remaining owned and controlled by Apple. Apple is also reportedly maintaining that this approach will not weaken its privacy protections.
The Siri chatbot is expected to handle a broader set of modern AI tasks, including web searching, content generation (including images), coding help, summarizing and analyzing information, and uploading files. It’s also expected to improve how Siri uses personal data to complete tasks, while significantly upgrading search capabilities. Another major feature in development would allow the chatbot to view open windows and on-screen content and even adjust device features and settings—moving Siri closer to a true hands-on digital assistant.
Internally, this chatbot Siri is said to rely on a more advanced AI system called Apple Foundation Models version 11, described as competitive with Gemini 3 and notably more capable than the model powering the earlier Siri revamp.
Whether Apple becomes an AI leader through Siri or not, one thing is increasingly clear: as long as consumers keep paying for generative AI subscriptions on iPhone and iPad, Apple is positioned to keep collecting a sizable share of the revenue—and that share could grow even larger in 2026.
