Apple’s Siri: Once a Pioneer, Now an AI Laggard – PYMNTS.com

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When Apple’s artificial intelligence (AI) assistant, Siri, debuted in 2011, it was revolutionary for giving users the ability to “talk” to their smartphone. Siri’s capabilities were made possible by machine learning, which was state of the art at the time.

Today, Siri lags behind competitors such as Amazon’s Alexa, Google’s Gemini for Android devices, and Samsung’s Galaxy AI — all of which are ahead in incorporating more advanced AI features.

Earlier this month, Apple told Reuters that improvements to Siri would be delayed until 2026. Previously, it had said Siri would see enhancements this year. Apple did not give a reason for the delay. The news comes as Amazon recently announced Alexa+, which embeds generative and agentic AI.

Robby Walker, head of Siri at Apple, reportedly said that delays and missteps by Siri were “ugly” especially after heavy marketing on its capabilities, according to a Friday Bloomberg report.

It is a remarkable fall from grace for Siri that has culminated in a rare move by Apple: demoting the executive in charge.

Apple CEO Tim Cook reportedly removed AI head John Giannandrea, the former head of search and AI at Google, from overseeing Siri, according to Bloomberg. Instead, Vision Pro creator Mike Rockwell will take over upgrading Siri.

Rockwell will report to software chief Craig Federighi. Giannandrea will still oversee other AI efforts at Apple.

The change was made following Apple’s secretive Top 100 meeting that gathers its most important executives to an off-site location to chart Apple’s course — an event Apple co-founder Steve Jobs himself created. Bloomberg said the top topic at the meeting was Apple’s AI efforts.

Perfection and Corporate Myopia

According to Siri co-designer Luc Julia, an obsession with perfection is likely hampering efforts to roll out an upgraded Siri faster.

“They are falling behind because of this fear of not being perfect,” said Julia, in a previous interview with PYMNTS earlier this month.

Julia said Siri was not actually created by Apple. Rather, nonprofit research and development group SRI International, directed by Julia, developed it. SRI was spun off as a separate company in 2007; Apple acquired Siri in April 2010 and integrated it into the iPhone 4S in 2011.

At the time, Apple executives didn’t see the opportunity Siri presented. Apple wouldn’t have acquired Siri’s technology if it weren’t for Jobs, who insisted on it, according to Julia, who later joined Apple as a director.

“Only one guy wanted it,” Luc recalled. “It was Steve Jobs.”

Julia sees the same cautiousness now among Apple’s top management about revamping Siri. “It’s the same story we are talking about today, which is, don’t go too fast. We’ll see if we want to do it.”

Since Jobs’ passing in 2011, new ideas at Apple have been few, and they were hit or miss. The most innovative thing Apple has done since then is the Apple Vision Pro, its augment reality headset, Julia said. The rest of the company is “basically running on what exists.”

‘We Saw Apple Without Steve Jobs’

In 2013, Oracle Chairman and then-CEO Larry Ellison was asked by CBS how he thought Apple would fare without Jobs.

“We conducted the experiment. It’s been done. We saw Apple with Steve Jobs,” said Ellison, drawing his finger up to mimic rising fortunes, “we saw Apple without Steve Jobs,” bringing his finger down to show declining sales.

Ellison was referring to the time when Apple’s board fired Jobs in 1985 after he lost a power struggle with then-CEO John Sculley. Apple’s business began to fail. In 1997, Jobs returned as CEO.

Jobs would go on to launch the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad, dominating the music, smartphone and tablet industries.

“He’s irreplaceable,” Ellison said. “They will not be nearly so successful because he’s gone.”