Did Apple's Leadership Crisis Almost Kill Siri's AI Future?

Apple’s Siri Saga: A Story of Missed Deadlines and Internal Turmoil
When Apple demoed a "revolutionary" Siri upgrade at WWDC 2024, even its own engineers were shocked. A bombshell report from The Information reveals how poor leadership, internal nicknames like "AIMLess," and a culture of risk aversion nearly derailed Siri’s AI overhaul. Now, with Craig Federighi’s team taking charge, can Apple finally fix its smart assistant? Let’s dive in.

🤯 The Problem: Why Siri Became a Running Joke

• "AIMLess" Culture: Apple’s AI/ML team earned its unflattering nickname due to slow execution and leadership that avoided ambitious projects.
• WWDC 2024’s Phantom Demo: The Siri features shown—like contextual flight tracking—weren’t built yet. Only the flashy screen ribbon was functional internally.
• Privacy vs. Progress: Apple’s strict privacy stance limited data access for AI training, while rivals like Google forged ahead.
• Leadership Vacuum: Ex-employees blamed AI chief John Giannandrea and Siri lead Robby Walker for lacking vision and urgency.

✅ The Fix: Federighi’s ‘Intelligent Systems’ Takeover

• New Leadership, New Rules: Craig Federighi’s software team built a parallel AI division ("Intelligent Systems") credited with shipping iOS 18’s Apple Intelligence features.
• Third-Party Model Greenlight: Federighi overturned Apple’s "in-house only" policy, allowing engineers to use open-source AI tools for faster development.
• Proven Track Record: Federighi and hardware lead John Rockwell are seen as "doers" with histories of delivering complex projects like FaceID.

⚠️ Challenges Ahead: Clashes and Cultural Shifts

• Team Rivalries: Tensions linger between Federighi’s group and Giannandrea’s AI/ML team over control of Siri’s roadmap.
• Open-Source Risks: Reliance on third-party models could clash with Apple’s privacy-first branding if data leaks occur.
• Rebuilding Trust: After the WWDC demo debacle, Apple must prove its 2025 AI promises (like proactive Siri) aren’t vaporware.

🚀 Final Verdict: Can Apple’s ‘A-Team’ Save Siri?

Success hinges on three factors:

• ✅ Federighi’s ability to merge Apple’s privacy ethos with cutting-edge AI
• 📉 Avoiding internal power struggles that could delay 2025’s iOS 19 upgrades
• 🚀 Delivering Siri features that feel meaningfully smarter—not just flashy demos

As users, we’re left wondering: Will the next Siri update finally justify the hype—or become another cautionary tale? What’s your take?

Let us know on X (Former Twitter)

Sources: Ryan Christoffel. This is how Apple’s big Siri shake-up happened, per report, Apr 10 2025. https://9to5mac.com/2025/04/10/this-is-how-apples-big-siri-shake-up-happened-per-report/