Latest news with #LLMSiri
Tom's Guide
19-05-2025
- Business
- Tom's Guide
Apple's AI rollout has not gone very smoothly — and this report details what's happened
The subject of Siri, and the upgrades Apple promised back at WWDC 2024, has been pretty hot the past few months. Ever since Apple had to delay the rollout of Siri's AI-infused upgrades, on account of it taking "longer than [Apple] thought." Well, it sounds like this might be a learning experience for Apple. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and Drake Bennett have a mammoth report on Apple's Siri fiasco, and the rollout of what is apparently internally known as "LLM Siri." In fact, due to all the high-profile delays, both reporters say that Apple isn't going to be announcing new features so far in advance from now on. It sounds like this is the same lesson Apple should have learned with the AirPower charger, which was announced back in 2017 and then never got released. All because Apple announced the charger too early, before it realized it wasn't actually able to make it. The report goes into a lot of detail, but I will try to explain the situation behind Apple's AI blunders as simply as possible. One key problem is that Apple started off late and, as previous leaks have claimed, the sudden popularity of services like ChatGPT caught the company by surprise. In fact, despite having an AI department for many years previously, Apple hadn't even considered the concept of Apple Intelligence before the release of ChatGPT in 2022. Following that, it seemed Apple had to scramble to catch up — all while the rest of the tech industry was doing the same. Before the launch of ChatGPT, Apple's software head Craig Federighi was reluctant to invest in what was needed to improve Apple's AI capabilities — especially since there was no end goal. According to sources, it wasn't until after ChatGPT was released and Federighi used generative AI in one of his projects that the benefits became clear to him. That led to a sudden pivot towards generative-AI features for the then-upcoming iOS 18. Despite the pivot to LLMs, it became clear that Apple wasn't going to be able to catch up — and Apple's chatbot was lagging behind the likes of ChatGPT and Gemini. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. One way Apple attempted to catch up was to bolt the new LLM Siri onto the Old Siri, which is the biggest problem with rolling out the new feature to iOS. It was described by sources as "whack-a-mole", with three bugs popping up every time an old problem was fixed. Apparently, individual features look good, but integrating them as a whole "Siri" assistant causes everything to fall apart. So it's no surprise that the new LLM Siri has been delayed as much as it has. Apple's AI chief, John Giannandrea, has taken much of the blame for Apple's AI faults since he isn't a "forceful" personality like other executives. Not only does this mean he's alleged to have not fought hard enough for funding for the AI department, but employees also claim that he isn't actually pushing the team hard enough. This is partly because he doesn't see rival chatbot makers as serious threats to Apple, but also potentially because he doesn't believe chatbots are the kind of features consumers actually want. However, Giannandrea has claimed that Siri's failure is not on him — and should be placed on Apple's marketing teams for overhyping and focusing on features that weren't finished. Apparently, this is something product managers are responsible for finalizing, which in this case would be Federighi. And the final insult is that Apple was a little too conservative in buying the GPUs necessary for AI processing. Apparently, this led to Apple's rivals buying up all the supply, and the lack of GPUs meant Apple's models were trained a lot more slowly as a result. The one thing the report makes clear is that Apple is "unlikely" to spend much time talking about Siri at WWDC 2025. Even the features that have already been announced, but have yet to materialize, are still "months away" from shipping. If there's anything Apple's good at, it's brushing its defeats under the rug and ploughing forward. So expect WWDC to focus on iOS 19, which is expected to get a major redesign, and other features ready to go when the update arrives this fall. We may even hear more about changes coming to Apple Intelligence, but if this report is accurate, we shouldn't expect a repeat of last year. Which we can all agree is a good thing. The promise of Apple Intelligence is all well and good, but people don't really like buying promises, especially when those promises can be broken. You can check out our WWDC 2025 hub for all the latest news and predictions about the upcoming show.
Hans India
19-05-2025
- Business
- Hans India
Apple Reboots Siri with AI Overhaul Amid Internal Struggles
Apple is making a bold push to revamp its artificial intelligence efforts, with a renewed focus on transforming Siri into a cutting-edge, conversational assistant powered by large language models (LLMs). The move follows a rocky debut of its Apple Intelligence features, which faced delays, internal resistance, and strategic missteps. In a detailed report by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the inner workings of Apple's AI development are laid bare — revealing why the tech giant fell behind in the AI race and how it plans to catch up. At the heart of the recovery plan lies a complete rebuild of Siri, internally dubbed 'LLM Siri,' which aims to move past the limitations of its legacy code and become a more natural, responsive digital assistant. According to Gurman, part of the problem stemmed from hesitation at the top. Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of software engineering, was reportedly 'reluctant to make large investments in AI.' The company has historically shied away from funding projects without clear, defined outcomes. However, when it comes to AI, one unnamed executive told Gurman, '...you really don't know what the product is until you've done the investment.' This caution delayed Apple's acquisition of critical GPU resources needed to develop powerful AI systems. By the time Apple recognized the urgency, competitors like OpenAI and Google had already secured a lead. Another issue was timing. Apple Intelligence, according to insiders, 'wasn't even an idea' before OpenAI's ChatGPT launched in late 2022. This late start left Apple scrambling to catch up — and with limited internal alignment. John Giannandrea, Apple's AI chief, reportedly didn't believe users were interested in AI chatbots. 'He told employees that customers commonly want to be able to disable tools like ChatGPT,' Gurman noted. His reserved approach clashed with the growing market demand for interactive, generative AI tools. Attempting a shortcut, Apple tried layering generative AI onto the existing Siri framework. But this hybrid solution quickly proved unstable. 'It's whack-a-mole. You fix one issue, and three more crop up,' an Apple employee told Gurman. Giannandrea's struggles extended beyond strategy. Having joined Apple in 2018 from Google, he remained somewhat on the fringes of Apple's typically insular leadership. Described as less 'forceful' than his peers, he reportedly failed to secure the funding and urgency needed to accelerate AI development. Employees also claimed he didn't push his team hard enough and underestimated rivals like OpenAI and Google. Meanwhile, Apple's marketing got ahead of reality. The company heavily promoted features like a context-aware Siri and Apple Intelligence's ability to analyze data across apps — capabilities that were not yet fully developed. This forced delays and scaled-back expectations. Now, Apple is resetting its course. The revamped version of Siri, being built in Zurich, is expected to run entirely on an LLM-based engine. This promises a more fluid, conversational interface, capable of understanding context and synthesizing information effectively. Gurman previously reported on this effort last November, and momentum appears to be growing. In addition to technical upgrades, Apple is also exploring ways to improve AI training data while preserving privacy. One method involves comparing synthetic training data against user email language locally on iPhones, only sending anonymized, synthesized data back to Apple. Furthermore, Apple is considering turning LLM Siri into a web-savvy assistant — one that can 'grab and synthesize data from multiple sources,' much like AI search tools such as Perplexity. Apple has reportedly explored partnerships to integrate such capabilities into Safari. Notably, Giannandrea is stepping away from product development, Siri, and robotics initiatives. Gurman reports that Apple executives have even discussed a potential retirement path for him, although there are concerns that key researchers and engineers might leave with him. Giannandrea, for his part, appears to be staying put — reportedly 'relieved Siri is now someone else's problem.' Apple's AI efforts may have stumbled out of the gate, but with a complete reboot of Siri and a clearer vision, the company is working hard to reclaim its edge in the fast-evolving world of artificial intelligence.
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Business Standard
07-05-2025
- Business Standard
WWDC 2025: What to expect besides revamped platforms and Apple Intelligence
Beyond new Apple Intelligence features, Apple is expected to deepen integration across its ecosystem, add support for more third-party AI models, and expand system-wide AI abilities New Delhi Apple is expected to overhaul its major operating systems at this year's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), unveiling the next-generation versions of iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. While the upcoming updates will likely bring design changes, system-level enhancements, and new AI tools under the Apple Intelligence umbrella, several other upgrades are also expected—ranging from a more capable Siri to third-party AI integration and expanded app functionality. Here's what to watch for: New Siri features Originally previewed at WWDC 2024, many of Siri's more advanced abilities—initially slated for iOS 18—are now expected to roll out during the iOS 19 cycle, following delays caused by development bugs. Expected updates include: On-screen awareness: Siri will be able to understand and act on the current screen content. For example, if someone texts you an address, you can say 'Add this address to their contact,' and Siri will handle it without follow-ups. In-app actions: Using the App Intents framework, Siri will perform complex, multi-step tasks across apps—without needing to launch them. This includes actions like finding a photo, applying edits, and saving it to a specific Files folder. Personalisation: With help from on-device semantic indexing, Siri will pull relevant data from apps like Mail, Messages, Calendar, Photos, and Files. It could, for example, find your driver's licence number stored in an image and autofill it into a form. LLM Siri Apple is also reportedly rebuilding Siri's foundation using large language models (LLMs). Internally referred to as 'LLM Siri,' this version will allow for more natural, human-like interaction and more nuanced task execution—similar to ChatGPT or Google Gemini. Bloomberg reported that LLM Siri could also give users more control over third-party apps via voice commands. New third party AI models Apple already offers built-in ChatGPT access through Apple Intelligence, but more AI model options could be on the way. During Google's ongoing US antitrust trial, CEO Sundar Pichai confirmed that Google has been in talks with Apple to bring Gemini to the iPhone. Pichai also noted that Apple CEO Tim Cook indicated more third-party AI models would become available on Apple Intelligence later this year. Separately, Apple is also said to be working with Anthropic on a new 'vibe-coding' software platform that will let developers write, test, and debug code using AI. Deeper Apple Intelligence integration Beyond new AI tools, Apple may focus on weaving existing Apple Intelligence features more tightly into its ecosystem. For instance, 9to5Mac reported that Image Playground, Apple's generative image tool, could soon be integrated into Apple Music—enabling users to create custom playlist artwork. Apple Intelligence may also expand to more devices. Bloomberg recently reported that watchOS 12 will officially support Apple Intelligence abilities, though most processing would still occur on a paired iPhone. Revamped native apps iOS 19 is expected to bring significant changes to several native apps—particularly the Health app. Bloomberg previously reported that Apple is planning an AI-powered health coaching feature that delivers personalised wellness advice, along with video content from medical professionals. Additional features may include:
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Yahoo
Apple's AI plans for Siri hit major roadblocks behind the scenes
Apple's plans for an AI overhaul of its Siri voice assistant have not gone as smoothly as the brand originally hoped. Those developing on the project are still trying to work out the flaws in the technology, but don't seem confident about a prompt release. The company aims to seamlessly integrate Siri with its Apple Intelligence AI tool, but this task appears to be easier in concept than execution. A new report from Bloomberg detailed that the brand previously hoped to have the feature released in a much shorter timeline, but now its plans may align with claims of a long delay. The publication indicated that the Siri team recently had an all-hands meeting where Apple senior director Robby Walker, discussed the state of the project, calling the delay an 'ugly' situation. He told the team there's no guarantee the Siri features will be ready for iOS 19 this year, but 'doesn't mean that we're shipping then,' he said. Currently, Apple is aiming to release the feature in June to coincide with its mobile software. The Verge noted that Apple first planned to launch the AI-inundated Siri last June to compete with the brand's contemporaries in the market. Last week, a brand spokesperson confirmed to Daring Fireball a second delay of the feature, which was rumored to launch in April with iOS 18.4. Reports before that noted that the project, known internally as 'LLM Siri,' could be delayed potentially for several iOS generations, up until 2027. It also appears Apple may be prioritizing other developments over the Siri project at this time. The company notably has several upcoming hardware launches, in addition to the aforementioned iOS 19 rollout, among other software releases. Reports also indicate the brand plans to do an overhaul update across all its platforms to make them more uniformly functional and practical. Apple is expected to showcase the updates at the World Wide Developers Conference in June. If true, the Siri project could be held back even further. 'We have other commitments across Apple to other projects. We want to keep our commitments to those, and we understand those are now potentially more timeline-urgent than the features that have been deferred,' Walker said, per the Bloomberg report. While there has been only one official statement from Apple, there has reportedly been a lot of buzz among the company's senior executives behind the scenes. Walker told the Siri team that software chief Craig Federighi, and AI head John Giannandrea, among others, are taking 'intense personal accountability' for the advanced features of Siri 'taking longer than expected.' In a prior Bloomberg report, Federighi supposedly discussed having concerns over features malfunctioning during internal tests. However, Walker assured his team that their progress on the project was impressive and that Siri's AI features would launch as soon as they were ready. 'Customers are not expecting only these new features, but they also want a more fully rounded-out Siri. These are not quite ready to go to the general public, even though our competitors might have launched them in this state or worse,' he said.
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Yahoo
Apple confirms long delay for AI-boosted Siri assistant
Apple's efforts with putting advanced AI capabilities across its ecosystem, the way Google has implemented them with Gemini, have a lot of ground left to cover. Among them is the Siri virtual assistant, which has remained a laggard and still hasn't received the features Apple showcased at its developers conference last year. Now, the company has officially confirmed that an overhauled Siri, one that can access locally stored user data and interact with apps, has been delayed until next year. Internally known as 'LLM Siri,' the next-gen makeover might not fully arrive until next year, but the delay could extend well into 2027. 'We've also been working on a more personalized Siri, giving it more awareness of your personal context, as well as the ability to take action for you within and across your apps. It's going to take us longer than we thought to deliver on these features and we anticipate rolling them out in the coming year,' an Apple spokesperson was quoted as saying by Daring Fireball. Apple was reportedly eyeing an April launch for the upgraded Siri experience, which was expected to arrive with the iOS 18.4 update. Top Apple executives — including senior vice president of software engineering, Craig Federighi — have voiced concerns about the planned features misfiring during internal tests, reports Bloomberg. Apparently, some employees think the planned roadmap might be nixed altogether, forcing Apple to start from the ground up. As a stop-gap solution, Apple inked a deal with OpenAI to offer ChatGPT capabilities on iPhones and Mac, integrating it with Siri as part of the Apple Intelligence stack. Despite ChatGPT bringing advanced language and multimodal capabilities such as image generation and file analysis, Siri is still missing a few crucial features that could truly lift the functional experience. For example, it still can't take a look at user data and offer contextual responses, nor can it interact deeply with installed applications. Google's Gemini, which is now available natively on top-end Android devices, can tap into the data stored across its Workspace products such as Gmail, Docs, Maps, and even YouTube. Moreover, using a system of extensions, it can turn voice commands into actionable steps across different apps, including third-party apps such as Spotify. Apple has clearly missed the train, and the latest delays don't paint a particularly good picture of the innovation streak at the company. However, it is making some progress elsewhere. The company recently partnered with Alibaba and Baidu in China to speed up the development of Apple Intelligence for the local market.
