Apple's virtual assistant 'Siri''s AI function is having difficulty developing and its release may be delayed

Apple has rolled out the personal AI feature ' Apple Intelligence ' on the iPhone 16 series and promised that useful AI features will also be available for its virtual assistant Siri. However, Bloomberg, an economic newspaper, reports that Siri's new AI features are likely to be delayed due to engineering issues and bugs.

Apple's Long-Promised AI Overhaul for Siri Runs Into Bugs, Possible Delays - Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-02-14/apple-s-long-promised-ai-overhaul-for-siri-runs-into-bugs-possible-delays

Apple Delays Siri AI Revamp Amid Engineering Hurdle | PCMag
https://www.pcmag.com/news/apple-delays-siri-ai-revamp-amid-engineering-hurdles

At its annual developer conference WWDC24 keynote in June 2024, Apple announced that Siri will be equipped with features such as the ability to use data such as a user's emails and photos to answer questions and find data, the ability to precisely control multiple apps and take action, and the ability to recognize what is displayed on the device screen and use that context to provide better service to the user.

Apple announces new personal AI 'Apple Intelligence', Siri supports ChatGPT in partnership with OpenAI - GIGAZINE

During the keynote speech, specific functions were introduced, such as 'extracting a driver's license number from a photo of the driver's license and entering it into a form' and 'searching through email and message history to tell you things like what time your mother is boarding a plane or what time she has lunch planned.'

The attempt to integrate AI functions into Siri, which has been installed on Apple devices for some time, was seen as an important step for Apple to catch up with the trend in AI development and promote iPhone replacement. However, only some AI functions such as 'improved Siri's voice recognition function' and 'chatbot function compatible with text input' were installed in iOS 18.1 released in October 2024.

Apple had planned to roll out AI features such as 'the ability to use data such as user emails and photos to answer questions and find data,' 'the ability to precisely control and take action across multiple apps,' and 'the ability to recognize what is displayed on the device screen and use that context to provide better service to users' in iOS 18.4, which will be released in April 2025. However, according to a person familiar with the matter who testified to Bloomberg, Apple's internal tests have shown that Siri's new AI features are not yet working well.

This could lead to Apple postponing the release of Siri's AI features until iOS 18.5 or later, or it could opt to roll out the AI features with them turned off by default in iOS 18.4 and then turn them on automatically in iOS 18.5 or later updates.

The delay in the release of Apple Intelligence features is affecting Apple's entire software development cycle, and in some cases, some features that were scheduled to be included in iOS 19 in 2025 may be delayed until 2026.

Bloomberg said, 'Despite its marketing efforts for Apple Intelligence, Apple is struggling with a difficult reality,' and 'The company's AI and machine learning teams are struggling to meet deadlines, and some engineers believe Apple Intelligence was rushed to market in an effort to please AI-obsessed Wall Street investors.'

Apple is trying not to miss out on the wave of AI development, but technology analyst Ming-Chi Kuo points out that 'Apple Intelligence has not translated into increased iPhone sales.'

Analyst points out that 'Apple Intelligence has not led to increased iPhone sales' - GIGAZINE

The already released Apple Intelligence version of Siri has been reported to give a large number of incorrect answers.

Experimental results show that 'Apple Intelligence version of Siri' gives more incorrect answers than conventional Siri - GIGAZINE