The AI race seems to be heating up, with upgrades arriving at lightning speed. However, Apple has been a bit slow in this race. The tech giant has faced challenges rolling out its AI-powered revamped Siri, first unveiled at WWDC 2024. Initially planned for release this year, the update has now been postponed to next year.
Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, shared positive news for iPhone users seeking additional AI features on their devices. During a conversation with CNBC, Tim Cook revealed that the company is set to release the upgraded Siri next year. He also mentioned that Apple is exploring collaborations with AI firms such as OpenAI and Google to incorporate their AI chatbots into Apple Intelligence.
While discussing Apple’s September earnings and the company’s outlook for the December quarter, Cook said the smarter Siri experience is on track to launch next year, without specifying a release date. He added that Apple is "making good progress" on AI Siri and is "open to pursuing M&A if it advances our roadmap."
Several months back, Apple's head of software engineering, Craig Federighi, mentioned that the initial architecture designed for a personalized Siri was inadequate and did not meet the company's expectations.
The company then focused on developing a second-generation architecture and discovered that there was still significant progress to be made before introducing new features to Siri. It now appears that these new Siri enhancements will be included in the iOS 26.4 update.
Recent reports suggest that Apple is contemplating a collaboration with Anthropic, Google, and Perplexity to develop an AI search feature for Siri. However, the delay in its release has led to multiple class-action lawsuits from users.