Sources detail how organizational dysfunction and a lack of ambition bogged down Apple's AI and ML efforts, including the work of the group responsible for Siri
The InformationWayne Ma
Context & Ripple Effects
This report extends a longer Siri pattern: former employees had already described ambition, strategy, and data constraints around Siri in 2017. It matters because it locates Apple’s AI gap in organizational execution, not simply in a single product setback.
Apple’s AI/ML organization and Siri team face slower decision-making and weaker ability to turn research work into product improvements when goals and ownership are unclear.
Siri becomes the most visible product affected: delays or limited capability gains can directly weaken confidence in Apple’s voice-assistant roadmap.
Second-order effects
Product teams must either work around the AI/ML group’s constraints or press for clearer integration, increasing the organizational cost of shipping AI-enabled features.
Competitors with more tightly coupled AI research and product organizations gain a clearer opportunity to set user expectations for assistants while Apple resolves execution issues.
Third-order effects
If these problems persist, AI capability becomes an operating-model differentiator: access to talent and models matters less without shared priorities, product integration, and accountable leadership.
The pattern suggests consumer-device companies may increasingly reorganize around AI as a cross-functional product capability rather than treat it as a separate research function.
The trend: This is one data point in the shift from voice assistants as standalone features to AI execution as a company-wide product and organizational discipline.
🍎 Siri's 12 years of stagnation is like if OpenAI launched ChatGPT and then argued internally for 12 years about what to do to improve it https://www.theinformation.com/ ... $aapl @waynema https://twitter.com/...
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Good article. Here's a summary of some of the key points (summarized by #Bard - I do not vouch for the accuracy of the summary, so suggest reading it if you can) 1/ Apple's Siri chief, John Giannandrea, is struggling to make Siri competitive with other voice assistants. 2/... htt…
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Apple has been quiet about AI in the past few months and @waynema explains why in this terrific deep dive into Apple's travails; top notch piece https://www.theinformation.com/ ...
Apple is also struggling with how to respond ChatGPT, as improvements to Siri are stymied by turf battles and high-profile departures, reports @waynema https://www.theinformation.com/ ... @theinformation https://twitter.com/...
Ex-members of Apple's AI and ML team say the organizational dysfunction of Siri raises questions of whether it will be able to incorporate the next wave of AI such as the tech behind ChatGPT into its products. Check out my latest for @theinformation https://www.theinformation.com…
Exclusive from @waynema: John Giannandrea was supposed to help Apple fix its Siri problems. But dysfunction is still holding back its efforts as a new AI era dawns. https://www.theinformation.com/ ...