(Bloomberg) — Apple Inc.’s turmoil in its AI division reached new heights on Friday, with the company delaying promised updates to the Siri digital assistant for the foreseeable future.
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Apple said that features introduced last June, including Siri’s ability to tap into a user’s personal information to answer queries and have more precise control over apps, will now be released sometime in “the coming year.” The iPhone maker hadn’t previously set a public deadline for the capabilities, but they were initially planned for the iOS 18.4 software update this April.
Bloomberg News reported on Feb. 14 that Apple was struggling to finish developing the features and the enhancements would be postponed until at least May — when iOS 18.5 is due to arrive. Since then, Apple engineers have been racing to fix a rash of bugs in the project. The work has been unsuccessful, according to people involved in the efforts, and they now believe the features won’t be released until next year at the earliest.
In the lead-up to the latest delay, software chief Craig Federighi and other executives voiced strong concerns internally that the features didn’t work properly — or as advertised — in their personal testing, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing internal matters. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment.
Some within Apple’s AI division believe that work on the features could be scrapped altogether, and that Apple may have to rebuild the functions from scratch. The capabilities would then be delayed until a next-generation Siri that Apple hopes to begin rolling out in 2026.
The company first demonstrated the features during its Worldwide Developers Conference last June, part of an unveiling of the Apple Intelligence AI platform. At the same annual event this year, Apple isn’t planning to show off any big AI breakthroughs. Instead, it will focus on integrating Apple Intelligence into more of its apps.
The delays — especially of announced features — are embarrassing for Apple and add more evidence to the idea that the company is struggling in artificial intelligence. They also threaten to set back work on future improvements.
Apple had been planning to make Siri more ChatGPT-like and conversational next year. But now only the initial underpinnings for that upgrade are expected to be ready by 2026, during the iOS 19 release cycle. The actual interface that users experience likely won’t arrive until iOS 20 in 2027, the people said.
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