Apple CEO admits Siri is terrible

The iPhone maker aims to bring some new AI-powered features to its Siri virtual assistant in the iOS 19 update, but this is happening slower than expected.

Siri is gradually being left behind by its competitors in the AI ​​race. Photo: The Verge .

Amid the fierce AI race, Apple has faced criticism for its delay in upgrading its virtual assistant Siri. New features announced by the company since June 2024 have yet to be released, leaving users disappointed.

In a recent meeting, Robby Walker, senior director of Siri development, admitted that the delay was a bad situation. Notably, he said that the AI-powered features built into iOS 19 are likely not coming this year.

“Apple has commitments to a lot of projects. We want to maintain our credibility with those projects and prioritize the urgent features,” said Robby Walker.

The meeting also touched on the strained relationship between the Siri team and Apple's marketing department, with the latter hoping to promote new features like the ability to understand context and automatically perform actions based on what's on a user's screen, but Walker said it was too early because they weren't working properly yet.

Apple was previously forced to remove an ad promoting new Siri features on the iPhone 16, saying the update would be released at an unspecified date. According to Bloomberg author Mark Gurman, software quality issues were the main reason for the delay.

Apple has yet to make a new statement about the Siri feature, but Walker claims that senior managers including Chief Software Officer Craig Federighi and Chief AI Officer John Giannandrea are directly responsible for the delay.

“Customers don't just want new features, they want a complete version of Siri,” Walker stressed.

The manager asserted that his team is working hard to bring outstanding improvements to users, and at the same time, he said that Apple will not rush to launch substandard features, even though competitors may have released official versions.