Apple has postponed the release of its highly anticipated AI voice assistant, Apple Intelligence Siri, reigniting concerns about the company’s standing in the AI race. Apple is facing mounting pressure to catch up as a latecomer to the industry.
Sources close to the matter reported on Monday that Apple issued an official statement to several media outlets and podcasts, acknowledging that developing a more personalized Siri is taking longer than initially expected. The company now anticipates launching the updated assistant sometime next year.
In June, Apple introduced its AI system, Apple Intelligence, at the 2024 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). The company demonstrated a feature that integrated Siri with ChatGPT-like capabilities, promising a Siri that could better understand users’ needs and handle tasks on their behalf.
The upgraded Siri was initially slated for release with iOS 18.4 in April, but Apple’s recent statement confirmed that the rollout would be delayed.
While Apple did not provide specific reasons for the delay, industry insiders point to challenges in the company’s AI division. These issues reportedly include a shortage of GPUs essential for AI training and struggles with leadership and employee retention.
Bloomberg’s well-respected Apple analyst, Mark Gurman, noted last week that Apple has encountered difficulties securing hardware for its AI projects. Additionally, Apple reportedly deals with leadership inefficiencies and a wave of employees leaving for competitors.
This year, Apple has faced several setbacks with its AI-related services. In January, the Apple Intelligence service experienced a major glitch in its “news alert and summary” feature, which was confused by incorrectly reporting that a suspect in a U.S. insurance executive’s murder had committed suicide. The error led Apple to turn off the feature and add warning messages to other notification functions in the app.
Even outlets typically favorable to Apple have expressed frustration with the delay. MacRumors, a U.S.-based Apple news site, noted that Apple’s vague “next year” timeline suggests that the more personalized Siri may not arrive until iOS 19. Some speculate that the large language model (LLM) being developed for Siri could be pushed to iOS 20 in 2027 instead of the anticipated iOS 19 update.
John Gruber of the Daring Fireball podcast commented that while Apple’s announcement might be disappointing, it isn’t surprising. He suggested that if Wall Street hadn’t been so caught up in the AI hype last year, Apple likely would have unveiled this at WWDC 2024. He emphasized that Apple should prioritize releasing a polished product rather than rushing something unfinished. Gruber added that although this delay might draw criticism, it should not undermine user trust.
As the delays continue, CNBC warned of growing competition in the AI space, with Amazon’s refreshed Alexa and Google’s developing Gemini assistants.
