Siri Creators Offer First Demo of 'Viv', the Self-Coding Voice Assistant

Siri co-founders Dag Kittlaus and Adam Cheyer have offered their first public demonstration of Viv, the much-anticipated voice assistant that promises an advanced level of human-computer interaction. The demo took place yesterday at TechCrunch's Disrupt NY event, where Viv's creators wasted no time showing what the new AI bot is capable of.

Kittlaus began by asking Viv what the weather was like today, but then continued the conversation with increasingly complicated queries, like "Was it raining in Seattle three Thursdays ago?" and even "Will it be warmer than 70-degrees near the Golden Gate Bridge after 5pm the day after tomorrow?" Viv had no problems answering the stacked requests, showing a clear awareness of context.

Kittlaus Viv demo

Viv CEO Dag Kittlaus demos the new AI bot at TechCrunch Disrupt NY (Image: TechCrunch)

Viv's enhanced contextual awareness is thanks to what Kittlaus called "dynamic program generation", a "new science breakthrough" that enables Viv to understand the intent of the user and code its own responses on the fly.

The feature is central to Kittlaus and Cheyer's hopes for a thriving third-party ecosystem for Viv, since developers are fully able to integrate it into their apps' functionality. The idea is that developers will take advantage of the open-ended nature of the platform to create new and increasingly complex experiences in a short period of time, instead of having to hard-code every response specific to their apps' interactive features.


Kittlaus and Cheyer say Viv is closer to the original vision they had for Siri, the virtual assistant they created in 2007 which is now built into all of Apple's iOS devices. Google and Facebook have already made offers to purchase the AI bot, but it is not clear if Kittlaus and Cheyer have plans to sell the technology, while early integrations are expected to come "later this year".

Tag: Viv

Popular Stories

Aston Martin CarPlay Ultra Screen

Apple's CarPlay Ultra to Expand to These Vehicle Brands Later This Year

Sunday February 1, 2026 10:08 am PST by
Last year, Apple launched CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. Nearly nine months later, CarPlay Ultra is still limited to Aston Martin's latest luxury vehicles, but that should change fairly soon. In May 2025, Apple said many other vehicle brands planned to offer CarPlay Ultra, including Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis. In his Powe...
Apple Logo Black

Apple's Next Launch is 'Imminent'

Sunday February 1, 2026 12:31 pm PST by
The calendar has turned to February, and a new report indicates that Apple's next product launch is "imminent," in the form of new MacBook Pro models. "All signs point to an imminent launch of next-generation MacBook Pros that retain the current form factor but deliver faster chips," Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said on Sunday. "I'm told the new models — code-named J714 and J716 — are slated...
iOS 26

iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Tuesday February 3, 2026 7:47 am PST by
We are still waiting for the iOS 26.3 Release Candidate to come out, so the first iOS 26.4 beta is likely still at least a week or two away. Following beta testing, iOS 26.4 will likely be released to the general public in March or April. Below, we have recapped known or rumored iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 features so far. iOS 26.3 iPhone to Android Transfer Tool iOS 26.3 makes it easier...
Apple MacBook Pro M4 hero

New MacBook Pros Reportedly Launching Alongside macOS 26.3

Sunday February 1, 2026 5:42 am PST by
Apple is planning to launch new MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips alongside macOS 26.3, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. "Apple's faster MacBook Pros are planned for the macOS 26.3 release cycle," wrote Gurman, in his Power On newsletter today. "I'm told the new models — code-named J714 and J716 — are slated for the macOS 26.3 software cycle, which runs from...
iOS 26 Home Feature

Apple Gives Final Warning to Home App Users

Tuesday February 3, 2026 8:55 am PST by
In 2022, Apple introduced a new Apple Home architecture that is "more reliable and efficient," and the deadline to upgrade and avoid issues is fast approaching. In an email this week, Apple gave customers a final reminder to upgrade their Home app by February 10, 2026. Apple says users who do not upgrade may experience issues with accessories and automations, or lose access to their smart...

Top Rated Comments

thekeyring Avatar
127 months ago
I'm as patient with Apple as anyone - I love their computers and their phones, and I'll probably buy a Watch when the second-gen is released.

But how they bought Siri and actually had these guys working for them and yet Apple aren't the ones making this announcement is incredible.

This presentation should have been a part of WWDC, built into iOS 10, OS X, watch OS 3.0 and the newest tvOS. I guess we'll have to wait until June 13th, but man, this will be hard to beat.
Score: 54 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Shirasaki Avatar
127 months ago
Are you sure Quicktime is capable of that? Because I'm pretty sure it isn't (but would love to be corrected).
QuickTime CAN do so. I am 100% sure.
Just set movie recording source to your device while you device is connected, then you are all set.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
notrack Avatar
127 months ago
unfortunately if i have to launch Viv every time i need to make a request, this isn't going to work.
"Siri, launch Viv and ask her to tell me how the weather is."
:D
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
thekeyring Avatar
127 months ago
Yeah and the Macbook with glowing Apple logo and this announcements proximity to WWDC is hard to think of as a coincidence. No big conspiracy, just a gentle little tip-of-the-hat-and-a-wink to Apple, not enough to offend though, just in case they end up selling to back to them ;) I hope they do as Siri hasn't moved on at all, it's just as confused by the things i ask today as it was the first day i had it.
What strikes me as odd is that, let's pretend Siri can be split into two halves: Speech-to-text and Text-to-Action

Even if the speech-to-text wasn't great, and you had to be really clear when you spoke to it, why isn't the Text-to-Action good? Aren't there people at Apple looking through Siri queries, and able to spend all day every day adding new functionality?

It debuted in 2011, surly even if someone was to write out the commands a user needed to say by hand they could. "Siri can't do this, but it would be cool if it could. How many ways are there to say it?"

Isn't someone ticking off a list ensuring that every function of the device can also be accomplished using Siri? Why not add feedback to the Siri UI: "Did Siri do what you wanted?" with a Yes / No. Then they can look through all the "No"s and work out what happened, how to improve the service, etc?
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
2855080 Avatar
127 months ago
Pretty powerful. Hopefully Siri will be able to do more in iOS 10.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Bevz Avatar
127 months ago
I'm as patient with Apple as anyone - I love their computers and their phones, and I'll probably buy a Watch when the second-gen is released.

But how they bought Siri and actually had these guys working for them and yet Apple aren't the ones making this announcement is incredible.

This presentation should have been a part of WWDC, built into iOS 10, OS X, watch OS 3.0 and the newest tvOS. I guess we'll have to wait until June 13th, but man, this will be hard to beat.
Yeah and the Macbook with glowing Apple logo and this announcements proximity to WWDC is hard to think of as a coincidence. No big conspiracy, just a gentle little tip-of-the-hat-and-a-wink to Apple, not enough to offend though, just in case they end up selling it back to them ;) I hope they do as Siri hasn't moved on at all, it's just as confused by the things i ask today as it was the first day i had it.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)