Last month, Apple underwent a significant internal upheaval regarding Siri, a consequence of postponed upgrades. An in-depth report from The Information sheds light on the tumult behind the scenes and provides an update on Siri’s current status.
Ineffective leadership contributing to Apple’s AI challenges
Wayne Ma from The Information has released a comprehensive report detailing how Apple has “mismanaged Siri’s AI transformation.”
There are numerous insights from Apple employees regarding the internal dynamics over the past couple of years in AI and Siri development.
For instance, Ma highlights that Apple’s AI issues appear partly linked to its stern commitment to user privacy, but an equally important factor is ineffective leadership.
Ma elaborates:
More than half a dozen former Apple employees who were part of the AI and machine-learning division led by Giannandrea—abbreviated to AI/ML—told The Information that poor leadership is responsible for its execution problems. They specifically pointed to [Robby] Walker as lacking the drive and willingness to innovate for future versions of the voice assistant.
Among Apple’s engineers, the relaxed culture within the AI group and its execution difficulties have even resulted in an unflattering nickname, a pun on its initials: AIMLess.
This “AIMLess” label speaks volumes about the perceptions of Apple’s AI team among its staff.
Demonstrating unbuilt Siri upgrades
Apple has faced significant backlash for showcasing AI capabilities last year at WWDC that appeared to lack even functional prototypes.
Ma’s report validates these concerns. Concerning Apple’s Siri demo, where the assistant is queried about her mother’s flight and lunch plans, he notes:
For many on the Siri team, the demonstration came as a surprise. They had never encountered operational versions of the functionalities, according to a former Apple employee. During that time, the only feature from the demo activated for test devices was a pulsating, colorful ribbon that appeared at the edges of the iPhone’s screen when Siri was invoked, as per the former employee.
It’s staggering that, as per this report, Siri’s new design was allegedly the only feature ready for testing within Apple last June.
Given this context, it’s quite unexpected that the company managed to release even the new Siri features that it did in iOS 18.1 and 18.2.
For Apple, the Siri demo marked a departure from its traditional practice. Historically, the company would display only features and products at its conferences that were already operational on test devices and had been vetted by its marketing team to ensure timely release.
Federighi’s ‘Intelligent Systems’ division
A recurring theme throughout the report is the renewed optimism within Apple regarding Siri’s future.
Federighi and Rockwell are perceived internally as leaders who are capable of delivering results and have a strong history of shipping successful products.
Additionally, Federighi’s software team has reportedly established its own AI division—‘Intelligent Systems’—which is responsible for numerous Apple Intelligence features that have been launched.
While the AI/ML team continues to operate under Giannandrea, the report suggests that further conflicts between Federighi and Giannandrea’s teams could be on the horizon.
Moreover, Ma concludes with an intriguing insight: Federighi has supposedly altered a significant AI policy related to Siri development.
Previously, Apple engineers were instructed to create features solely using internal models; now, the use of open-source third-party models has been authorized.
The full report offers much more valuable information and is well worth reading for subscribers of The Information.
