This may be one of the final major public events during Tim Cook's tenure as Apple's CEO, where he could provide Wall Street with a long-awaited answer: the details of the company's artificial intelligence strategy.
Apple is expected to unveil a new version of Siri at its Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday. This voice assistant, which is roughly 15 years old, could finally catch up to OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini.
The tech giant will also release a series of software updates for the billions of iPhones, iPads, Macs, and Apple Watches in use globally. As chatbots and AI assistants have become commonplace in daily life, the new Siri will serve as the most significant signal of Apple's comprehensive product overhaul. There is considerable interest in whether Apple can replicate its historical ability to turn emerging technologies into blockbuster products, this time within the field of artificial intelligence.
Apple has fallen behind in the AI race. Its plans to upgrade Siri have been repeatedly delayed, with some features announced in 2024 still not yet available. Currently, the Apple Intelligence AI tools launched for iPhone, iPad, and Mac also lack distinctive features, making it difficult for them to stand out among competitors.
Apple has already introduced features like voice translation, on-screen content search, and custom emoji generation. However, companies like Google and OpenAI have rolled out AI assistants that claim to handle entire, complex tasks on behalf of users.
Gene Munster, co-founder and managing partner of the technology investment firm Deepwater Asset Management, stated, "Apple has yet to deliver a truly impressive product."
The new version of Siri could help Apple close the gap. According to media reports, the voice assistant is set for several major upgrades: the ability to execute multiple tasks from a single command, the launch of a standalone app, and the adoption of a chatbot-style interface.
Anurag Rana, a senior software and IT services stock analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, noted that Apple and Google announced a partnership in January, with Google's large language models set to power the new Siri, which could significantly enhance the user experience.
Rana said, "Google's Gemini model currently has strong momentum and is performing exceptionally well."
Over the past year, investors and analysts have persistently questioned Apple's AI development strategy during earnings calls. Despite strong iPhone sales, Wall Street still seeks clarity on the role of artificial intelligence in the company's long-term plans.
This responsibility will soon fall to the incoming CEO, John Ternus. He currently heads Apple's hardware engineering division and is set to officially assume the CEO role in September. Tim Cook will transition to the role of executive chairman of the company's board.
However, Apple possesses a significant advantage with its massive installed base—over 2.5 billion Apple devices are currently in active use worldwide.
This could represent a major opportunity for Apple. Rana pointed out that since Apple Intelligence features are only compatible with the iPhone 15 Pro and later models, more than half of the iPhones currently in use globally—approximately one billion devices—cannot access these capabilities.
Munster concluded, "They are not going to mess this up. This is too important for Apple to fail."
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