- Apple execs have called Siri’s delay ugly and embarrassing
- Apple’s top 100 executives will meet later this week, with Apple Intelligence likely to be a major talking point
- It’s not too late for Apple’s AI division to succeed, but time is running out
Apple Intelligence is expected to be the main topic of conversation at Apple’s major exec offsite meeting later this week, as the company looks for a solution to its AI turmoil.
It hasn’t been a great week for Apple’s AI endeavors, with the company struggling to meet its launch window for the headline Apple Intelligence feature, a new and upgraded Siri voice assistant.
Apple officially delayed Apple Intelligence-powered Siri with personal context and on-screen awareness last week, removed an ad showcasing the voice assistant, and failed to give a launch window for a headline software that was expected to launch as part of the iPhone 16’s first year of release.
On Friday, Mark Gurman reported for Bloomberg that Robby Walker, a senior director at Apple, “told staff that delays to key features have been ugly and embarrassing, and a decision to publicly promote the technology before it was ready-made matters worse.”
Now Gurman is reporting that this week is going to be pivotal for Apple Intelligence, with Apple’s top 100 executives meeting for a company offsite that’s expected to have Apple Intelligence as its focal point.
Gurman also notes that a shake-up to Tim Cook’s executive team because of these AI shortcomings is unlikely. Writing in his weekly Power On newsletter Gurman said, “Given the nature of this collective failure, it’s unlikely to result in management changes on Cook’s executive team. That would mean admitting fault, which Apple hates doing. A shake-up would also suggest that the company took one of the world’s preeminent names in AI — [John] Giannandrea — and failed to put him in a position to succeed, making yet another failed outside hire to Cook’s cabinet.”
With all eyes on Apple and Apple Intelligence, the company has to make major changes and fast, but is too little too late? Or can Apple Intelligence still thrive like we all initially expected it to?
Apple Intelligence could still flourish
At WWDC 2024, Apple showcased an AI-powered Siri that was capable of personal assistant features we’d not seen anywhere else. With the ability to know what’s going on in your life through your iPhone, while still maintaining Apple’s industry-leading privacy features, the next generation of Siri was met with huge fanfare and excitement.
Fast forward nine months later and that fanfare and excitement has completely flickered out. With Apple Intelligence’s lukewarm initial launch, and delays to the piece de resistance, with no one from the industry actually seeing Siri in action, it’s fair to say that these are worrying times for Apple’s AI division.
That said, if any company can take shortcomings and turn them into positives, it would be the Cupertino-based tech giant. With execs meeting later this week, and public perception of Apple Intelligence dwindling, now would be the time for Apple to make major moves and show its loyal fan base why they should still drink the Apple juice.
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