Apple Intelligence has faced significant challenges since its initial features were launched last year. A comprehensive report by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman sheds light on the underlying issues and the steps Apple is taking to rectify its approach. Central to these efforts is a major overhaul of Siri, Apple’s digital assistant, which the company is attempting to rebuild from the ground up.
Gurman has previously noted that Apple is developing an internally dubbed ‘LLM Siri’ — a generative AI version of Siri. The previous strategy of merging the assistant with existing features has proven ineffective. Several factors contribute to this situation, as outlined by Gurman. Notably, Apple software chief Craig Federighi exhibited reluctance to invest heavily in AI technology. The company is cautious about investing in projects without a definitive end goal, but as pointed out by an unnamed executive, “you really don’t know what the product is until you’ve done the investment.” This hesitation led to a lack of sufficient GPUs, hindering Apple's ability to compete in the fast-evolving AI landscape.
Another critical issue highlighted by Gurman is that Apple started its AI initiatives too late. One executive remarked that Apple Intelligence “wasn’t even an idea” until the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022. Furthermore, Apple AI chief John Giannandrea initially believed that users did not want AI chatbots, expressing concerns that customers preferred the option to disable such tools. This mindset contributed to a disconnect between old Siri and the new functionalities Apple was trying to implement.
Apple’s strategy of simply adding generative AI features to the existing Siri was viewed as a quick fix; however, this approach has not yielded the desired results. An employee described the situation as “whack-a-mole,” where fixing one issue led to the emergence of multiple others. Giannandrea's integration within Apple's leadership was also problematic; his background as an external hire did not align with the traditional dynamics of the company's inner circle. Reports suggest that he did not advocate strongly enough for significant funding, which hampered the AI team’s progress.
Apple's marketing strategies also contributed to the company's struggles. The AI marketing campaign heavily promoted features such as an enhanced Siri and the ability for Apple Intelligence to utilize contextual data from various apps before these features were fully developed. As a result, the company has been forced to delay many promised functionalities.
In response to these challenges, Apple is now reevaluating its approach to AI and Siri. Part of this strategy involves a complete overhaul of Siri instead of merely attempting to integrate generative AI with the legacy system. According to Gurman, Apple has tasked its AI team in Zurich with developing a new architecture based on an LLM engine. This innovative framework aims to enhance Siri’s conversational capabilities and improve information synthesis.
Another critical aspect of Apple’s AI strategy is the use of iPhones and differential privacy to refine the synthesized data. This involves comparing training data with language derived from users’ emails while ensuring the process occurs on-device, sending only the synthesized data back to Apple for AI training. Furthermore, Apple is exploring the possibility of enabling the LLM version of Siri to access the web for data synthesis, positioning Siri as an AI web search tool akin to Perplexity. Interestingly, Perplexity is among the companies Apple has considered partnering with for AI search capabilities within Safari.
Despite these ambitious plans, Giannandrea’s future at Apple appears uncertain. He was removed from direct involvement in product development, including Siri and robotics projects, earlier this spring. Reports indicate that Apple executives are contemplating a transition towards retirement for Giannandrea, although they are wary of losing the research and engineering talent he brought to the company. Nonetheless, Gurman notes that Giannandrea intends to remain with Apple, feeling relieved that the challenges associated with Siri have been passed on to someone else.
As Apple navigates these complex issues, the company's ability to successfully implement its new AI strategy will be crucial in determining its position in the competitive landscape of digital assistants and AI technology.
