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Siri Under Siege: Inside Apple's Struggles to Catch Up in the AI Race Episode

Siri Under Siege: Inside Apple's Struggles to Catch Up in the AI Race

· 01:47

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Apple’s been keeping quiet about Siri’s slow progress, but a leaked internal meeting gives us a rare look at just how rough things are behind the scenes. Senior director Robby Walker didn’t sugarcoat it, calling the situation “ugly” and admitting that some of Apple’s promised AI features are still nowhere near ready. In fact, those long-awaited Siri upgrades—like better context awareness and smarter actions—were apparently so buggy they failed up to a third of the time. Now, Apple is scrambling to fix things with no clear timeline, leaving Siri years behind competitors like Google Assistant and ChatGPT. And to make matters worse, the marketing team hyped up features that simply weren’t finished, forcing Apple to quietly backpedal.

Key Points:

  • Internal Panic: Siri team lead Robby Walker admitted in a company meeting that the delays are "ugly" and that the AI features might still not make it into iOS 19.
  • Marketing vs. Reality: Apple's marketing team pushed to promote features that weren’t ready, which led to unrealistic customer expectations.
  • Major Quality Issues: The delayed Siri upgrades reportedly worked poorly or failed up to a third of the time, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
  • Pulled Promotions: Apple even removed an iPhone 16 ad that showcased the promised AI features and added disclaimers on its official website.
  • Executive Pressure: Senior leaders, including Craig Federighi and AI chief John Giannandrea, are reportedly taking "intense personal accountability" for the mess.
  • Apple's Next Move? Walker reassured staff that the company will only release the features “as soon as they are ready”, resisting pressure to launch prematurely like competitors might.

The big question remains: when will Siri finally catch up? With Apple struggling to meet its own deadlines, the AI race is only getting tougher. 🚀
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