Why Apple Still Can't Catch Up in AI and What It's Doing About It [Report]

A new Bloomberg report by Mark Gurman and Drake Bennett offers fresh insight into Apple's ongoing efforts—and internal struggles—with artificial intelligence. The article, "Why Apple Still Hasn't Cracked AI," reveals previously undisclosed details about the company's AI strategy, leadership dynamics, and the troubled development of features such as the revamped Siri.

Apple's Apple Intelligence and Siri demos at WWDC 2024 were actually videos of early prototypes, not live demonstrations of working software. This helps explain the subsequent delays and performance issues encountered with features like the more personalized Siri. When John Giannandrea was hired from Google in 2018 to lead Apple's AI division, software chief Craig Federighi was reportedly very enthusiastic, telling staff, "This is exactly the kind of person we needed for AI." However, the path since has been difficult, with one senior member of Apple's AI team now likening the effort to a "foundering ship" that's "been sinking for a long time."

The report also offers historical insights, noting Steve Jobs' personal and persistent involvement in acquiring Siri, phoning co-founder Dag Kittlaus 24 days in a row and holding weekly meetings. Even in the mid-2010s, some senior software executives at Apple were advocating for a more prominent role for AI in iOS, but Federighi was reportedly unconvinced at that time. Apple also considered acquiring Mobileye for around $4 billion, a deal that ultimately did not materialize. Interestingly, the Apple Neural Engine, a critical component for on-device AI, originated from the company's now-defunct car project.


Regarding current AI strategy, Giannandrea has reportedly argued internally that consumers are generally distrustful of generative AI like ChatGPT and that a common request is to disable such features. This perspective may have influenced Apple's approach to developing a consumer-facing chatbot. The company's AI training efforts have also been impacted by its privacy policies; for example, the Applebot web crawler allows websites to opt out of having their data used for Apple Intelligence training, an option many have reportedly taken. To compensate, Apple is said to be improving its synthetic data by comparing it with language from user emails directly on their iPhones, a process designed to maintain privacy by not sending user data to Apple.

Leadership and team dynamics also feature in the report. Mike Rockwell, who now oversees Siri engineering, was initially reluctant to report to Federighi, given Federighi's past skepticism about AI. Rockwell himself had a vision for a more capable, "always-on life co-pilot" Siri as far back as 2015 and had previously struggled to get the Siri team to fully integrate the assistant into the Vision Pro for navigation.

Looking forward, Apple's AI office in Zurich is reportedly developing a new "monolithic model" for Siri, codenamed "LLM Siri," to create a more unified and conversational experience. While Apple already integrates ChatGPT, it is also in preliminary talks with Perplexity AI as a potential alternative for both Siri and Safari search. Some Apple executives now believe the company's internal chatbot is on par with recent versions of ChatGPT. These executives are reportedly pushing for this internal chatbot to make Siri a true competitor, with discussions underway to give it the ability to access and synthesize data from the open web. According to Bloomberg's sources, this internal chatbot has made significant strides in the past six months. Integrating such a capable chatbot into Siri could also serve as a strategic hedge against the potential loss of the substantial revenue Apple receives from Google for its default search engine status in Safari, a deal currently under antitrust scrutiny.

Finally, Apple is said to be planning a strategic shift in its public communications. This includes separating the "Apple Intelligence" brand from "Siri" in marketing materials and adopting a new policy to avoid announcing features too far in advance of their actual launch. The company is also reportedly working on enabling users in the EU to switch their default voice assistant away from Siri, in response to regulatory pressures.


More details in the full report linked below...

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