Apple Intelligence hits a wall after a rough launch year. The company’s AI push, announced last year as its ChatGPT-era answer, stumbled out of the gate. Key features rolled out last fall and winter disappointed users. Summarizing messages made headlines wrong, and a big Siri upgrade got delayed—badly.
Apple advertised "More personal Siri" for iPhone 16. Then it vanished. The feature, meant to tap into apps and emails, got pushed to next year. Ads got pulled. Now, Apple faces lawsuits from customers who say they were misled.
Investors want Apple to make a bold AI move at WWDC. CEO Tim Cook’s speech Monday will be under the microscope. Execs say AI could even replace the iPhone itself in the future. 
Apple’s AI rollout lagged behind rivals. OpenAI, Google, Meta keep building powerful AI models and smart glasses. Google’s Gemini is set to replace Android assistants with video summaries and image inputs. Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses hit 2 million sales. OpenAI just dropped $6.4 billion on AI hardware talent, including Apple alum Jony Ive.
Apple keeps its AI work quiet but reshuffled teams. Analyst Samik Chatterjee expects a "lackluster" WWDC on AI. Lots of promised features from last year are still missing. The fight heats up with Android rivals gaining ground.
Apple is known for buying startups to jump ahead. It snapped up PA Semi for chips and Siri for voice tech. But AI targets like OpenAI or Anthropic may be too big or expensive. Anthropic’s $61 billion value would dwarf Apple’s biggest deals.
Deepwater Asset Management’s Gene Munster said:
"They probably need to acquire Anthropic."
Apple holds $133 billion in cash but spends relatively little on AI hardware compared to Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Meta, who are pumping $300 billion this year into chips and infrastructure.
Apple’s chips have strengths for AI inference. WebAI’s David Stout says Apple Silicon delivers 100 million tokens per dollar vs. Nvidia’s 12 million. Apple is pushing developers to build integrations via its App Intents system, still not live.
Senior VP Eddy Cue warned of AI’s threat to the iPhone at a recent trial:
"AI is a new technology shift, and it’s creating new opportunities for new entrants."
Former Apple designer Jony Ive, now at OpenAI, calls AI a foundation for new hardware generations.
Apple has time thanks to loyal users, but its AI missteps have made rivals look faster. WWDC will be a test if it doubles down or keeps lagging.
Apple declined to comment.
