Apple Investors Give Lukewarm Reaction to New Siri, AI Platform
(Bloomberg) — Apple Inc. investors have given a lukewarm reception to the next generation of the artificial intelligence platform that is key to the company’s goal of catching up with Silicon Valley rivals in a critical market.
The new Apple Intelligence system, powered by Google technology, was unveiled Monday during the company’s keynote presentation at the Worldwide Developers Conference. Software chief Craig Federighi called the update, which includes an overhauled Siri digital assistant, a major improvement over the company’s existing software.
Federighi said Siri is “smarter, more knowledgeable and more capable.”
Still, many of the new features are similar to capabilities Apple has introduced before; only to delay their launch. And the new Siri will be available to consumers in beta testing this fall, signaling that the technology isn’t quite ready for casual users.
Apple said the new AI features won’t be available in China while the company is “working through regulatory requirements.” The rollout of the technology in the EU will also be slowed due to regulations in that region.
A stock gain of more than 3 percent quickly fizzled out. At the end of Monday’s presentation, shares were down about 0.7%.
Federighi said Apple Intelligence can better understand the context of users’ requests. The changes also improve Apple’s Visual Intelligence features, providing insight into what users see and improving authoring tools. Apple said the new assistant, called Siri AI, will be available in English before being “quickly” expanded to other languages.
This is a crucial moment for Apple, which needs to show investors and consumers that AI technology is back on track. When the company introduced its Apple Intelligence platform two years ago, many features were slow to arrive or inferior to competing offerings.
Overhauling Siri is key to the company’s return to artificial intelligence. According to Bloomberg News, the new features will include a standalone Siri application and a more chatbot-like interface. Apple’s Siri, which was first released in 2011, could not keep up with its artificial intelligence-supported rivals. The latest capabilities running on Apple’s operating systems will help modernize the technology.
During the presentation, Federighi said the new software updates will focus on three areas: Artificial intelligence, performance improvements and security. Upgrades mean software and photos will load faster. Meanwhile, new child safety protections will also manage screen time and help prevent children from accessing inappropriate content.
For the Mac computer series, Federighi announced that the next macOS will be called Golden Gate.
The company also made changes to the Liquid Glass design introduced last year. Among the changes, a slider will now allow users to adjust the magnitude of the effect. Some customers complained that text could be difficult to read with Liquid Glass.
Apple said searches within operating systems will be more effective and make it easier for users to find what they are looking for.
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