Apple is reportedly facing significant challenges in its attempt to upgrade its artificial intelligence (AI) voice assistant, Siri. The tech giant is holding its annual Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) this week, but investors are pessimistic about the chances of a major AI announcement, according to a report by the Financial Times (FT) on Sunday.
Recently departed employees told FT that Apple has been hit by challenges with updating Siri using cutting-edge large language models (LLMs) that can provide more sophisticated responses to spoken prompts. Apple has been trying to develop its own LLMs over the machine learning technology that powers Siri, a product used in hundreds of millions of its bestselling devices, to create a truly conversational assistant.
Challenges in Siri’s Development
Former executives said that the process of integrating the technologies has led to bugs, something rivals like OpenAI did not face when building generative AI-based voice assistants. “It was obvious that you were not going to revamp Siri by doing what executives called ‘climbing the hill,’” one former exec said, referring to the process of gradually developing the product instead of rebuilding it from scratch. “It’s clear that they stumbled.”
The FT also noted that updates to Siri form a major component of Apple Intelligence, a suite of AI features announced at the company’s WWDC last year and designed to increase hardware sales. Experts expect the WWDC to demonstrate how much Apple lags competitors in AI. While rivals such as Microsoft and Google have used their developer events to highlight rapid progress in AI, Apple’s event could highlight how far it still has to go in AI.
Expert Insights and Broader Challenges
“Apple will be much more cautious about overpromising and will refrain from showing features that aren’t yet ready for prime time,” said Craig Moffett of research firm MoffettNathanson. AI is just one of several concerns for Apple. The company also faces tariffs that threaten its hardware profit margins. Additionally, the company’s services division, which drives gross profit margins of 74%, is facing legal scrutiny over App Store fees and payments Apple receives from Google for being its default search engine.
