Apple took a leap into the AI era on Monday, announcing a long-awaited update to its digital assistant Siri and changes in its operating systems that attempt to more deeply integrate artificial intelligence.
The company's share price fell close to 2% after the news, though. While analysts say the changes have potential, whether or not they are a hit with consumers will have to wait to be seen once they are made available to the public later this year.
The Siri overhaul comes after repeated delays that raised questions about Apple's commitment to AI, as chatbots and agents have taken center stage in the tech world amid a tsunami of AI investments by other companies.
"Today we're taking a big step forward," Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president for software design, said at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference, or WWDC, held in Cupertino, Calif. He defended Apple's approach, stressing the company's focus on utility and protecting user privacy.
"Some appear to be racing forward, seemingly pursuing AI for the sake of AI without clear regard for the people — all of us — that it's ultimately meant to serve," he said. "We believe that truly helpful AI must be centered around you and your needs."
As chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Anthropic's Claude have wowed consumers with their ability to answer complex questions and perform digital tasks, Siri has lagged far behind. On Monday, Apple put on display its new version, with a string of videotaped demonstrations in which Apple employees showed off Siri's new features.
The company said the new Siri, dubbed Siri AI, will be accessible through a standalone app, and also through the search function on the home screen of Apple devices and in various other apps, like Photos. It will be able to access cloud computing networks and the internet, but be informed by a user's personal experiences and information on the user's Apple devices, such as their email and text message history.
Apple executives showed how Siri AI could find information online, give recommendations for things like menus, dig into texts or emails to pull up addresses or other information, and move photos into albums.
A 'prove-it moment' for Apple
Ben Bajarin, CEO of the tech research company Creative Strategies, said there was a low bar for making improvements, given Siri's current limited functionality. He said Apple is in a good position to bring AI to a broad customer base through its popular products.
"It looks like it's a pretty big upgrade," he said of the new Siri and Apple's deeper integration of AI into its systems. "It will work very cleanly into a whole slew of things that consumers might already do."
But, he added, "I think now we'll just have to see how it actually works."
Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst with the consultancy IDC, said Apple appears to want AI to "disappear into the operating system," rather than make chatting with an AI the user's focus.
"If Apple makes AI feel natural, private and useful for mainstream users, it will not just strengthen its ecosystem. It could redefine what consumers expect from every device they use," he said.
Presenters at the conference said Siri AI would be available to U.S. customers later this year in English, with other languages coming soon. It will not be immediately available in the European Union or China, two big markets for Apple, due to international regulations.
Apple is turning to one of its biggest phone hardware rivals for help catching up in AI. In January, Google and Apple announced a multi-year collaboration under which Google's Gemini AI model would be the basis for Apple's AI systems.
Daniel Newman, CEO of the Futurum Group, a tech research and advisory firm, said Apple now faces a "prove-it moment."
"My first reaction — and I think the reason the stock sort of fell — was it's ticking a box, but still uninspiring," Newman said.
"Given the fits and starts of Apple's AI rollout over the last few years, I don't know that they've given us enough reason to believe they can be trusted this time. The proof is going to have to be in the delivery, in the execution," he added.
Newman said the promises Apple made on Monday have potential, and there is clearly a big market for an improved Siri. Investors may also like the fact that Apple is "just paying rent to Google" for Gemini, he said, rather than shoveling money into self-made AI development, like many other tech companies are doing.
Beyond AI, Apple announced new parental controls on app and content access for kids, including the ability to limit which websites they can browse and apps they can download, who can communicate with them, and how much time they can spend on devices.
These updates come at a time when a range of AI and social media companies are facing a slew of lawsuits claiming harms to minors, including mental health troubles and exposure to violent or sexually graphic conversations with chatbots.
Tim Cook's last WWDC as Apple's CEO
Outgoing Apple CEO Tim Cook opened and closed the main session with brief remarks at the start of what will likely be his last WWDC, but did not play a role in unveiling the new products.
In April, Cook announced that in September he will hand the reins of a company that he helped make one of the world's most valuable to John Ternus, a mechanical engineer by training who currently oversees the development of Apple hardware, like Mac computers and iPhones.
In an April letter announcing the leadership change, Cook lauded Ternus as someone with "the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator, and the heart to lead with integrity and honor."
Despite the perception that Apple has had missteps on AI, the company has thrived under Cook, with its share price soaring some 2,000% on a split-adjusted basis during his 15-year tenure as CEO. Cook expanded the array of revenue-generating services that Apple offers, with products like Apple Pay, Apple Music and Apple News+. He also launched a line of custom microchips to power Apple's products.
Still, Cook has taken flak for binding Apple's fate to China as its manufacturing hub, a move that created supply chain efficiencies but has become a political risk that the company is now trying to address through diversification.
Critics have also said Cook lacks his predecessor Steve Jobs' ability to drive wow-factor product innovation, instead delivering a string of incremental device updates over the years.
Closing out the morning keynote on Monday, Cook said "the best is still ahead" for Apple, which he said strives to create the best products to deliver enriching experiences.
"It's been the honor of a lifetime to help advance that mission with teams whose creativity, care and conviction continue to make a lasting difference in peoples' lives," he said.
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