Apple CEO Pushes Craig Federighi to Rebuild Siri as a True AI Agent
Apple CEO Presses Software Chief to Pursue More Ambitious AI Strategy
Apple's new CEO is pressing software chief Craig Federighi to take a bolder approach to AI, aiming to turn Siri into an autonomous agent that completes tasks for users rather than just answering questions. The push comes alongside a shake-up of the iOS 28 development strategy and the launch of a new MacBook Pro. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports the company is exploring a ChatGPT Dots-style agent.
Apple's new CEO is pressing software chief Craig Federighi to take a more ambitious approach to AI as the company looks to transform Siri into an autonomous agent that can get things done for users.
- rolosa
Siri needs to be useful, period.
When my phone is sitting on my countertop and I say "hey siri, add eggs to my shopping list" I expect it to add eggs to my shopping list, as it has done so for years, instead of saying "you'll need to unlock your iPhone first."
When I'm driving my car merging onto the highway and I see furniture on the ramp, and I say "hey siri, call the local non emergency police department number" so that I can report it, I expect it to say something like "I have the [city name] non-emergency phone number, want me to call now?" Instead of it saying "calling the New Jersey police department" which is halfway across the continent from me, and then giving me no way to hang up the phone hands free forcing me to grab my phone from the console and quickly try to hang it up while I'm driving at highway speeds.
- AnonC
> Even today, Federighi carries a reputation for having been an AI skeptic, concerned about the technology’s privacy, security, societal and employment implications.
I’m kinda in agreement with Federighi on these concerns. Though he hasn’t delivered on software quality (from my perspective), I believe it’s good to have someone who keeps these concerns in mind (not necessarily SVP of software).
I tried Siri AI on iPhone recently thinking that it’d be great. I found that Siri AI can’t even navigate to a given URL to get look up information (the response was, “I can’t access specific web pages”). At this point, it seems like Siri AI is probably good for accessing/working with some data on the iDevice and/or doing research on the web.
Siri AI to me when I asked what it is even good for:
“I can help with a wide variety of tasks on your device.
I can help you draft emails and messages, set reminders, create calendar events, and find information from the web. I can also help you organize text, perform calculations, and manage your smart home accessories.”
The software chief who pushed out the previous AI chief (who wasn’t enthused by LLMs) must move out for Apple’s AI…and even its own consumer release software…to improve.
- needSomeCoffee
Interesting notes about Craig's management style in that article. I have worked with a few C-Level folks with similar traits (e.g. "smartest in the room", etc.) and never seen great outcomes. Have been hoping for years that MacOS would get back to being a delightful upgrade -- faster, better, etc. For me, that has been lost during the Craig decade or so. Note: This is just an opinion, and not well informed apart from seeing a guy like guys I worked with. I.e. not Craig's fault, and it might have been worse if not for him.
- iamgopal
If Apple forces developers to support Shortcuts, ensures true Mac-to-iPhone parity, and lets users generate scripts using natural language AI, it’s game over. Nailing this native integration would single-handedly kill the market for almost every derivative AI app out there.
- xnx
It's a crowded field and Apple has almost no expertise in AI, but hopefully they can find some angle that makes use of their massive locked-in customer base and huge piles of cash.