Apple used its annual developers conference to unveil a rebuilt Siri and a broader slate of artificial intelligence features, placing the company’s AI ambitions front and center after months of criticism that rivals had moved faster and farther.
Monday’s announcements in Cupertino, California, give Apple its clearest answer yet to the rapid advances made by OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and others, all of whom have spent the past two years reshaping expectations for what AI assistants can do.
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Apple gives Siri a larger role
For most of us, Siri has been useful for simple requests like setting timers, sending texts, giving directions or answering basic questions.
But Apple is now asking users to think of it differently.
The company showed a version of Siri that can handle more complicated requests, pull information from different apps, understand follow-up questions and complete tasks that previously required users to jump between multiple screens and services.
During demonstrations, Siri was shown helping organize events, searching through messages and emails, and responding in a more natural back-and-forth conversation than earlier versions.
Privacy remained a central theme throughout the presentation, with Apple continuing to argue that AI can become more capable without requiring users to surrender large amounts of personal data.
“At Apple, we believe privacy in AI is non-negotiable,” said Craig Federighi, Senior Vice President of Software Engineering. “Apple intelligence uses on device processing as well as private cloud compute, which ensures your data is not stored or accessible to Apple or anyone else.”
Rivals have not stood still
Apple’s challenge is introducing AI after consumers have already spent two years experimenting with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and a growing list of competing products.
That reality has left Apple in an unusual position.
The company that often sets the pace for consumer technology is instead trying to convince customers, developers and investors that it can still shape where the market goes next.
Investors want proof, not promises
Apple’s advantage remains obvious: hundreds of millions of people already carry its products every day.
The company’s bet is that AI works best when it’s built directly into the devices people already use every day.
Whether that argument resonates remains an open question.
Shares slipped during Monday’s event, a sign that investors were looking for more than product demonstrations. Investors now want evidence that Apple’s AI strategy can compete with companies that go there first.
Apple says the upgraded Siri and many of the new AI features will begin rolling out later this year.
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