Apple's Siri Chief Calls AI Delays Ugly and Embarrassing, Promises Fixes
Apple Inc.'s top executive overseeing its Siri virtual assistant 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.
Robby Walker, who serves as a senior director at Apple, delivered the stark comments during an all-hands meeting for the Siri division, saying that the team was facing a bad period. Walker also said that it's unclear when the enhancements will actually launch, according to people with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified because the gathering was private.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNET
41 minutes ago
- CNET
Apple Releases Its Most Comfortable Products Ahead of WWDC 2025: New Merch!
WWDC 2025, Apple's annual developer conference, kicks off in just a matter of hours with a keynote at 10 a.m. PT on Monday, June 9. But before Apple CEO, Tim Cook, takes his first step onstage at Apple Park, the company has dropped a bunch of new limited edition merchandise as documented by a number of people on social media. One of the quieter yearly rituals for WWDC is the release of Apple branded clothing and souvenirs. The Apple Park visitor center has an Apple Store that usually has a number of limited edition shirts, hoodies and more that WWDC attendees can buy. This year's offerings feature riffs on Apple's original rainbow logo on a black or white hoodie that truly makes it pop. There's another version of the logo with the word Apple written in the Apple Garamond font which you don't need to be a font nerd to appreciate. Seeing the company embrace its past for Apple enthusiasts and developers is exciting, especially ahead of one of the more significant WWDC keynotes. There is a lot at stake for the iPhone maker. Analysts question Apple's progress with Apple Intelligence. The US Department of Justice and 16 state and district attorneys general have a suit against Apple alleging that the company locked iPhone owners into its ecosystem through monopolistic practices. And President Donald Trump has threatened a 25% tariff on the iPhone if Apple doesn't move iPhone manufacturing to the US. Aside from WWDC 2025 merch, we expect to see previews of the next generation of iPhone, Mac and Apple Watch software (and more). Rumors point to Apple changing how it names the software. Instead of iOS 19 and WatchOS 12, we'll likely get year-centric names like iOS 26 and WatchOS 26. Also the company is expected to bring an unifying visual overhaul to all of its OSes that is inspired in part from VisionOS, as reported by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. CNET has editors and writers attending WWDC 2025 in-person to report on developments as they break.
Business Insider
an hour ago
- Business Insider
AAPL Down 18% YTD as Apple's AI Delays Erode Investor Confidence
Apple Inc. (AAPL) has long been the most reliable name in tech. It offered predictable product cycles, loyal customers, and industry-defining design. Investors called it boring in the best possible way. That was before 2025. Confident Investing Starts Here: Easily unpack a company's performance with TipRanks' new KPI Data for smart investment decisions Receive undervalued, market resilient stocks right to your inbox with TipRanks' Smart Value Newsletter This year, AAPL is down nearly 19% while the rest of the so-called 'Magnificent Seven' soar. Microsoft (MSFT), Nvidia (NVDA), Meta Platforms (META), Alphabet (GOOG) (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), and Tesla (TSLA) have all bounced back sharply. The S&P 500 (SPY) and Nasdaq have pushed higher on AI tailwinds. AAPL is the only one lagging. 'Siri, Why Are You Lagging? ' The reason sits at the core of Apple's identity. Artificial intelligence was supposed to be the company's next leap. A redesigned Siri, powered by new large language models, would act as a smart assistant across apps, emails, and calendars. It was shown off last year under the banner of 'Apple Intelligence.' Ads aired. Expectations built. Then came the delays. According to recent reports in The Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal, the upgrade is nowhere near ready. Internal demos fell flat. Engineers cited hundreds of bugs. Ads featuring The Last of Us star Bella Ramsey were quietly pulled. Executives have now postponed the launch indefinitely. One former Apple leader called the AI plan a stumble. Investors agree. Sentiment Is Cooling TipRanks data shows a cooling in analyst sentiment. There are fewer 'Strong Buy' ratings than a year ago. Several top-rated analysts have lowered price targets. Hedge fund activity in AAPL has also slowed. Insider confidence is muted. After years of being a consensus favorite, the stock is now drawing caution. The problems run deeper than software bugs. Regulators have delayed Apple's AI rollout in China. CEO Tim Cook has been pulled into political crossfire as former President Donald Trump returns to the White House. New tariffs on China-made electronics have added pressure to Apple's supply chain. Cook has pledged $500 billion in U.S. investments, but most iPhone production still takes place overseas. While Apple delays its AI rollout, the company's financial engine is quietly shifting. As shown below, gross profits from high-margin services have begun to rival hardware, underscoring why the stakes for Apple Intelligence are rising. AI Roadmap Remains Unclear At the same time, Apple's competitors have widened the AI gap. Microsoft is investing heavily in OpenAI and building custom data centers. Meta and Google are deploying their own foundation models across billions of users. Apple, in contrast, is now leaning on OpenAI to power parts of Siri. The company's privacy-first approach has also limited its ability to train cloud-scale models. With WWDC set to begin, expectations are low. Investors are not looking for surprises. They want evidence that Apple can deliver what it has already promised. Whether that means releasing a functional Siri upgrade or showing meaningful progress elsewhere in its AI roadmap remains unclear. In the meantime, AAPL still rests on a solid foundation. It has over 2 billion active devices and a growing services business. But the stock's premium valuation was built on the assumption of leadership. For now, the market is rethinking that assumption. Is Apple Stock a Buy, Sell, or Hold? average price target for AAPL stock is $228.65, suggesting a 12.13% upside.
Engadget
an hour ago
- Engadget
Influential Apple engineer Bill Atkinson dies at 74
A renowned Apple engineer who was instrumental in developing modern-day computing has died. Bill Atkinson, who was part of Apple's original Macintosh development team, died of pancreatic cancer at 74, according to a Facebook post made by his family on June 5. His contributions to Apple and the Macintosh personal computer are still widely used today, including fundamental UI elements like the menu bar, double-clicking and the selection lasso. However, Atkinson's work goes much deeper than that, since he's partly responsible for the foundational design language that influenced Apple's early days. His legacy includes creating MacPaint, an application that showed the world what a graphics-based system looks like at a time when text-based systems were the norm, and developing QuickDraw, a graphics toolbox that the Macintosh and Lisa computers use. To make computers more user-friendly, Atkinson also designed HyperCard, an Apple application that introduced hypertext to everyday users and not just programmers. Tim Cook paid tribute to Atkinson, posting on X, that he was a 'true visionary whose creativity, heart, and groundbreaking work on the Mac will forever inspire us.' Beyond Apple, Atkinson was one of three co-founders for General Magic, a software and electronics company that supplied products to Motorola and Sony in the 90s. Later, he worked with Numenta in 2007, which was a startup focused on artificial intelligence. Atkinson was also a seasoned nature photographer, publishing a book called Within the Stone that highlights polished and cut rocks with close-up shots. Atkinson is survived by his wife, two daughters, stepson, stepdaughter, two brothers, four sisters, and dog, Poppy.
