Still No AI-Powered, ‘More Personalized’ Siri from Apple at WWDC 25

Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 25 wrapped up without the highly anticipated unveiling of a more personalized, AI-powered Siri, initially teased at last year’s event. While Apple showcased a range of updates, including a new “Liquid Glass” design and rebranded naming conventions, the silence on Siri left many wondering about the future of Apple’s virtual assistant.

Craig Federighi, Apple’s SVP of Software Engineering, briefly addressed the Siri update during the keynote, stating, “As we’ve shared, we’re continuing our work to deliver the features that make Siri even more personal. This work needed more time to reach our high-quality bar, and we look forward to sharing more about it in the coming year.” This suggests that significant updates to Siri are unlikely before 2026, a considerable delay in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.

The promise of a more personalized Siri was first introduced at WWDC 24, envisioning an assistant capable of understanding your “personal context,” including relationships, communications, and routines. This updated Siri was expected to facilitate actions across various apps, enhancing user experience and utility. Source: TechCrunch

However, progress has been slower than anticipated. Bloomberg reported earlier this year that an in-development version of the personalized Siri suffered from inconsistent performance, functioning as expected only about two-thirds of the time.

In March, Apple officially announced a delay to the launch of the AI-powered Siri, citing the need for more development time. The company also reorganized its leadership on the project, replacing SVP of Machine Learning and AI Strategy John Giannandrea with Mike Rockwell, previously involved with the Vision Pro. Source: Bloomberg

These changes underscore the challenges Apple faces in keeping pace with AI advancements made by competitors like OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic.

To bridge the gap, Apple has partnered with OpenAI, allowing Siri to redirect complex queries to ChatGPT when necessary. This integration extends to iOS 26, where the updated Image Playground app will also utilize ChatGPT. Source: TechCrunch

Despite the Siri delay, Apple unveiled other AI-related initiatives at WWDC 25, including developer access to on-device foundation models, live translation features, upgrades to Genmoji and Image Playground, Visual Intelligence enhancements, a Workout Buddy for Apple Watch, AI integration in Xcode, and an AI-powered Shortcuts app. Source: Apple Newsroom