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Apple has hit a major hurdle with its AI ambitions and the new Siri avatar faces more issues and delays that could stretch up to 2026.
Apple’s much awaited Siri upgrade with a dose of AI was previewed at the iPhone 16 launch event
Apple has delayed the launch of the upgraded version of its voice assistant Siri until 2026, spokesperson Jacqueline Roy said on Friday. Apple was expected to release the new powerful Siri around Spring this year. The development would mean more artificial intelligence-powered personalised improvements for Siri. With the new upgrade, Siri would have been able to take action within other apps.
In its existing version, Siri is already keeping Apple users hooked with features like product knowledge and integration with AI chatbot ChatGPT. The new features would have added a more contextualised touch to the virtual voice assistant’s existing capabilities.
On the progress of the anticipated upgraded Siri, Jacqueline Roy stated that it was taking longer than expected. “It’s going to take us longer than we thought to deliver on these features and we anticipate rolling them out in the coming year,” the company representative reportedly said.
On February 21, Apple announced that its personal intelligence system, Apple Intelligence, was expanding in more languages and regions. “Apple Intelligence will continue to expand with new features in the coming months, including more capabilities for Siri,” the official press release read.
More Delay Troubles
However, the latest statement from the company signals towards the challenges for the US tech giant, as it races against time to avoid the risk of falling behind its rivals like OpenAI, Amazon and Google.
Last week, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced the launch of GPT – 4.5. Altman said that the latest model was the company’s most advanced model yet, which is designed to be more general-purpose. Notably, the 2022 launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT marked the beginning of the generative AI era.
Last month, Amazon also announced an upgraded version of its voice assistant, Alexa. The company is yet to release the model. Meanwhile, Google is working on a similar capability with its Gemini assistant.
However, users have raised complaints with all the consumer voice assistants, which have been spotted giving incorrect answers and task automation, signalling that the feature is still in the nascent stage.
