Apple’s Siri Reboot Hit by Bugs, Delays and Leadership Chaos: Report

Apple is falling behind in the race to develop a modern AI assistant, with multiple former employees telling the Financial Times the company is facing major technical and leadership challenges trying to upgrade Siri.

At the heart of the problem is Apple’s attempt to rebuild Siri using large language models (LLMs), the same type of AI that powers tools like ChatGPT. Unlike competitors such as OpenAI and Google, who built new AI assistants from scratch, Apple tried to layer LLMs on top of Siri’s existing, outdated infrastructure. That approach has led to bugs and setbacks, according to people familiar with the project.

“It was obvious you weren’t going to revamp Siri by just climbing the hill,” said a former Apple executive, referring to the incremental strategy instead of a full rebuild. “It’s clear that they stumbled.”

These delays are especially damaging because Apple has been touting Apple Intelligence, a suite of new AI features, as a way to revitalize iPhone sales. While some features like writing tools and image generation have launched, the upgraded Siri—marketed as a smarter, more context-aware assistant—is still missing.

Internally, sources say the project was plagued by a lack of coordination and shifting leadership. Apple’s AI lead, John Giannandrea, was recently removed from overseeing Siri. Responsibility was handed to Mike Rockwell, who previously led the Vision Pro headset team.

Making the problem worse is Apple’s privacy-first approach. The company wants its AI to run on-device instead of in the cloud, which limits model size and capability. Former employees say this adds an extra layer of complexity that rivals don’t have to deal with.

Even Apple CEO Tim Cook admitted the company’s AI work “did not meet [its] high quality bar” and was “taking a bit longer than we thought.”

Analysts say Apple is now at least three years behind competitors when it comes to launching a truly modern voice assistant. Delays have already led Apple to pull TV ads promoting Siri upgrades, and investor confidence is slipping. Apple’s stock is down 18% this year, the worst among major tech firms.

As WWDC approaches, expectations are low. The question for Apple now isn’t what it will announce—but whether it can finally deliver. We don’t have high hopes for Siri news at WWDC. Let’s hope there’s something else that will shine.