Image showing Siri's AI Features, Source: Apple
Apple has been targeted over its slow progress in AI and the Siri features it announced a long time ago. The tech giant has officially delayed the AI features for Siri and its devices that would set them apart in the AI race
At WWDC 2024, held last June, Apple announced a digital assistant that was poised to become much smarter. The days of awkward interactions with Siri would be behind us. Instead, Apple executives showed natural, flowing conversations with the digital assistant, as Siri was able to recognize on-screen content such as dates, phone numbers, and other details and take action based on what it detected.
Apple has already announced that these AI features are delayed and we probably won't see them until 2026.
Bloomberg reported on a Siri team meeting led by senior director Robby Walker, who heads the division. He called the delay an “ugly” situation and sympathized with employees who might be feeling burned out or frustrated by Apple’s decisions and Siri’s underwhelming reputation. He also said it’s not guaranteed that the missing Siri features will make it into iOS 19 this year—that’s the company’s current target, but that doesn't mean we're shipping then,” he told employees.
The meeting also hinted at tension between Apple’s Siri unit and its marketing division. Walker said the communications team wanted to highlight features like Siri understanding personal context and being able to take action based on what’s currently on a user’s screen — even though they were nowhere near ready. Walker acknowledged that the WWDC teases and the ensuing customer expectations only exacerbated the situation. Apple has since pulled an iPhone 16 ad that showcased the features and has added disclaimers to several areas of its website noting they’ve all been postponed to a TBD date. They were held back in part due to quality issues “that resulted in them not working properly up to a third of the time,” according to Mark Gurman.
Apple Intelligence: Source Apple
“Customers are not expecting only these new features but they also want a more fully rounded-out Siri,” Walker said. “We’re going to ship these features and more as soon as they are ready.” He praised the team for its “incredibly impressive” work so far. “These are not quite ready to go to the general public, even though our competitors might have launched them in this state or worse,” he said.