Staff at Apple Expressing Discontent Over AI Siri's Unfulfilled Promises by Apple

Discontent Among Apple Staff Due to Unfulfilled AI Promises with Siri

In a surprising turn of events, tech giant Apple has announced a delay in infusing Siri, its voice assistant, with artificial intelligence-powered capabilities. This decision comes after a series of setbacks that have caused a stir within the company and among iPhone users.

According to a report from Bloomberg, Robby Walker, a senior director in Apple's Siri division, acknowledged the team's feelings of anger, embarrassment, and burnout during an all-hands meeting. The delay in AI-powered Siri capabilities is a significant blow, as these features were a primary selling point of the iPhone 16, which otherwise did not offer significant upgrades.

The survey conducted by trade journal SellCell in December 2024 found that 73% of iPhone owners found the company's new AI features to "add little to no value." This suggests that consumers were expecting more from the AI-enhanced Siri and are disappointed with the current state of the assistant.

Apple started running ads promoting the features of the suped-up Siri last year, promising they would be available by June of this year. However, the delay has left marketing efforts appearing to have left the Siri team hanging out to dry.

The in-progress Siri feature only works the way it's supposed to between two-thirds to 80% of the time, according to Bloomberg. This inconsistency has likely contributed to the disappointment among users.

Amazon, on the other hand, announced AI-powered features for its Alexa voice assistant last month. The AI-powered features for Alexa are being slow-rolled and introduced to a limited selection of devices, but the smooth rollout seems to be a stark contrast to Apple's struggles.

The delay has also taken a toll on Apple's stock price, causing it to tumble. The morale within the Siri team is reportedly spiral, according to another report from Bloomberg. Walker mentioned that team members might feel uncomfortable answering questions about the delay from co-workers, friends, or family.

The name of Walker's supervisor within Apple's Siri division is not available in the provided search results. However, the delay in AI-powered Siri capabilities seems to be a challenge that Apple must overcome, as finding ways to get consumers to use AI seems to be a challenge, despite the hype it generates.