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- “In response to EU regulatory pressure” Apple could be working to let users in Europe switch to third-party voice assistants over Siri
- The move comes amid indefinite delays to AI-powered Siri upgrades originally planned for March 31
- Executives are showing concern for the future of the company, as Apple falls behind competitors in the AI race
Apple is reportedly working on tweaking its iPhone operating system to allow European users to choose a third-party voice assistant as their default option over Siri.
The news comes via a bombshell Bloomberg Apple AI report by Mark Gurman and Drake Bennet, citing “a person with knowledge of the matter” and follows in the wake of Apple’s public struggle to provide Siri with AI upgrades that were first revealed in June 2024.
It’s a situation that has already resulted in Apple pulling a range of AI-focused ads and “available now” claims from the Apple Intelligence webpage. These upgrades were originally supposed to launch in iOS 18.4 on March 31, but now appear to have been delayed with no firm release date.
This report also claims that Google Gemini is on track to be added in iOS 19 as a ChatGPT alternative, according to people with knowledge of the plan.
Alongside struggling to make Siri smarter, Apple is also now seemingly facing regulatory sanctions in the EU after already being fined for forcing users to use its own App Store.
Right now, if you ask Siri on an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone (iPhone 15 Pro or newer) something like “How does CRISPR DNA editing work?” the virtual assistant currently has no answer – except to ask users if they’d like ChatGPT to answer.
According to an Apple exec cited by Bloomberg, Apple’s usual methodology is “we’re late, we have over a billion users, we’re going to grind it out, and we’re going to beat everyone”, but that’s not working this time around.
Where to now for Siri?
To back up its claims, Bloomberg’s report notes that Eddy Cue – Apple’s Senior Vice President for Services – is worried that “AI could do to Apple what the iPhone did to Nokia”. Cue has recently been quoted during court testimony as saying it’s possible the iPhone could be irrelevant 10 years from now, “as crazy as it sounds”.
While it ultimately might not have a choice when it comes to changes in the EU, Apple would obviously prefer Siri to be able to compete with Gemini and ChatGPT head on, but at this point, it does not appear to have a clear path when it comes to closing the gap, with a senior member of Apple’s AI team stating, “This is a crisis… It’s been sinking for a long time.”
While allowing users to ditch Siri for a third-party alternative would deal with the problem in the short term and could be a good thing for iPhone and Mac users, from Apple’s perspective it would also be an undesirable admittance of that current state of affairs.
In his court testimony, Cue stated that for the first time in 22 years, Google searches on Apple devices fell last month. The provided reason was that users were turning away from search engines and towards AI tools for gathering information.
While Apple has a dedicated customer base that is going to continue to buy Apple devices almost no matter what, as AI becomes more integrated into people’s work and personal lives, it may be the deciding factor for less loyal users.
By comparison, Android devices have long allowed owners to switch to a different virtual assistant, something that’s continuing into the age of AI.
Apple has undeniably fallen behind when it comes to AI integration, but perhaps not disastrously so – and when it comes to such a world-changing technology, maybe that’s not such a bad thing. Given how unreliable Google AI Overviews can be, it’s certainly not an exact science.
Acknowledging that they need time to get Siri to a point where it can rival the others, and giving users further functionality in the meantime, seems like a win/win for Apple and its customers – if the iPhone maker can swallow its pride.