Has Apple, the largest company globally, mishandled its generative artificial intelligence strategy?
Questions arose after tech analyst John Gruber, who closely follows the company, published a scathing criticism in a blog post entitled "Something Is Rotten in the State of Cupertino"—Apple’s base of operations—earlier this month.
The esteemed analyst and Apple fan expressed his frustration at having been less doubtful when the company revealed in June that its Siri chatbot would receive a significant generative AI (genAI) enhancement.
The technology, set to be launched as part of the Apple Intelligence collection of iPhone software, aimed to elevate the significantly criticized voice assistant’s functionalities far beyond merely providing weather updates or configuring timers.
Investors were counting on this update to kick off a crucial sales surge for the iPhone, where an enticing new feature on the device drives consumers to quickly purchase the newest and priciest versions of the phone.
The anticipated enhancement of Apple Intelligence with the upgraded Siri was meant to boost demand beginning with the launch of the iPhone 16 in September.
Rather than that, Apple discreetly declared on March 7th that the deeply customized version of Siri was not going to arrive as soon as anticipated.
Increasing the stakes further, Amazon unveiled a new iteration of its Alexa voice assistant in February, which is driven by generative AI technology.
"Extending our timeline beyond initial expectations, we expect to roll out these features over the course of this upcoming year," stated Apple.
Data privacy vs AI
Opinions differ regarding why Apple is struggling to capture the AI opportunity.
According to Marcus Collins, who teaches marketing at the University of Michigan, Apple’s difficulties with generative AI and Siri might stem more from their emphasis on data privacy rather than an inability to innovate.
To make AI personalized, it requires accessing large volumes of individual-specific information.
"And Apple hasn't slowed down when it comes to privacy," Collins told AFP.
However, at a certain stage, "individuals' data, contributions, and expressions are being utilized to enhance AI systems," and resolving this issue could prove more challenging than anticipated by Apple.
According to tech analyst Avi Greengart, "It's somewhat disappointing that Apple has promoted Apple Intelligence extensively with theiPhone 16 launch since many of the features announced forApple Intelligenceare absent from the device."
However, he warns that despite Google's Gemini AI capabilities in their Android devices being more advanced than what Apple has offered so far, consumers might not have observed significant differences.
He stated that even the most advanced AI implementations on smartphones nowadays haven't essentially altered how you use your phone.
Nobody has fully realized this vision yet, which buys Apple some time to close the gap—but they definitely need to do so.
Nevertheless, even Apple's toughest critics argue that the company relies excessively on its past successes and the immense popularity of its iPhone.
Furthermore, the setbacks concerning artificial intelligence followed shortly after the disappointing response to Apple's pricey VR device, Vision Pro, which has struggled to find an audience since its launch in 2024.
Even though Apple has faced unfavorable press recently and its share price has dropped 8 percent since January, it still holds the position as the globe’s most valued firm, with its stock increasing by nearly 30 percent compared to last year at this time.
Apple announced an impressive $124.3 billion in revenue for the final quarter of the fiscal year, despite the sales growth not quite meeting market forecasts.