Some within Apple’s AI division believe that work on the features could be scrapped altogether, and that Apple may have to rebuild the functions from scratch. — Bloomberg
Apple Inc’s turmoil in its AI division reached new heights on last Friday, with the company delaying promised updates to the Siri digital assistant for the foreseeable future.
Apple said that features introduced last June, including Siri’s ability to tap into a user’s personal information to answer queries and have more precise control over apps, will now be released sometime in "the coming year.” The iPhone maker hadn’t previously set a public deadline for the capabilities, but they were initially planned for the iOS 18.4 software update this April.
Bloomberg News reported on Feb 14 that Apple was struggling to finish developing the features and the enhancements would be postponed until at least May – when iOS 18.5 is due to arrive. Since then, Apple engineers have been racing to fix a rash of bugs in the project. The work has been unsuccessful, according to people involved in the efforts, and they now believe the features won’t be released until next year at the earliest.
In the lead-up to the latest delay, software chief Craig Federighi and other executives voiced strong concerns internally that the features didn’t work properly – or as advertised – in their personal testing, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing internal matters. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment.
Some within Apple’s AI division believe that work on the features could be scrapped altogether, and that Apple may have to rebuild the functions from scratch. The capabilities would then be delayed until a next-generation Siri that Apple hopes to begin rolling out in 2026.
The company first demonstrated the features during its Worldwide Developers Conference last June, part of an unveiling of the Apple Intelligence AI platform. At the same annual event this year, Apple isn’t planning to show off any big AI breakthroughs. Instead, it will focus on integrating Apple Intelligence into more of its apps.
The delays – especially of announced features – are embarrassing for Apple and add more evidence to the idea that the company is struggling in artificial intelligence. They also threaten to set back work on future improvements.
Apple had been planning to make Siri more ChatGPT-like and conversational next year. But now only the initial underpinnings for that upgrade are expected to be ready by 2026, when iOS 19 debuts. The actual interface that users experience likely won’t arrive until iOS 20 in 2027, the people said.
Bloomberg News reported earlier this week that Apple employees are questioning whether chief executive officer Tim Cook or the company’s board needs to take action to change the leadership of the AI group. They believe that, short of major changes, Apple will continue to fall behind. Earlier this year, the company tapped veteran software leader Kim Vorrath to help the team.
The delays mark an especially public setback for Apple because the company has been advertising the not-yet-ready features in TV commercials for nearly six months. When the company introduced the iPhone 16 last fall, it did so by selling customers on the idea that the device was "built for the ground up for Apple Intelligence.” Now, the core features for that experience might not be available until months after the iPhone 17 debuts.
In anticipation of customer frustration, the company sent guidance to its AppleCare support representatives last Friday. "If customers ask about the timing of these Siri features, reiterate that we anticipate rolling them out in the coming year,” the memo said.
There are also concerns internally that fixing Siri will require having more powerful AI models run on Apple’s devices. That could strain the hardware, meaning Apple either has to reduce its set of features or make the models run more slowly on current or older devices. It would also require upping the hardware capabilities of future products to make the features run at full strength.
Siri did get some refinements as part of the rollout of iOS 18, including an integration with OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot and a text-based option called Type to Siri. It also includes Apple product knowledge and a new glowing interface, but those features don’t represent changes to the underlying technology.
The slow pace threatens to put Apple further behind Amazon.com Inc in the voice assistant market. That company will begin rolling out its highly anticipated Alexa+ this month. Samsung Electronics Co and Alphabet Inc’s Google have also built AI deeply into their devices. – Bloomberg
