Media reports, $Apple (AAPL.US)$ The senior executive responsible for the Siri virtual assistant told employees that the delay in releasing key AI features for Siri is "ugly and embarrassing," and the decision to promote it publicly before the technology was ready only made things worse.

According to Bloomberg News, Robby Walker, a senior director at Apple, made these remarks during a closed-door staff meeting in the Siri department, where he candidly stated that the team is going through a difficult time. Walker also mentioned that it is still unclear when these enhanced features will actually be launched.

Analysis suggests that this frank discussion reveals Apple's predicament in the field of AI. Currently, Siri's level of intelligence lags behind competitors and has become a symbol of Apple's AI challenges. Apple's troubles escalated last week when the company publicly acknowledged that key features would be indefinitely postponed.

During the meeting, Walker stated that his team members might feel angry, disappointed, exhausted, and embarrassed due to the delay of the features. The company has been striving to introduce the related technology this spring, but informed sources told the media that these features would not be available until at least next year.

As of Friday's close, Apple's stock price has fallen over 14% this year, becoming part of the overall plunge in technology stocks. On Friday, the stock price rebounded, rising 1.82% to $213.49.

Wanting to make an appearance but repeatedly postponing.

On February 14, the media reported that Apple encountered vulnerabilities and engineering problems in the development of Siri's AI tools. At that time, the company postponed the release date from April to May, hoping to launch the relevant features in the iOS 18.5 system. Now, it may have to wait until the iOS 19 system update to achieve this.

These features were first announced at last year's Apple Global Developers Conference (WWDC) in June, which is crucial for enhancing Siri's personal assistant capabilities. This technology will allow Siri to access users' personal data to respond to queries more accurately. Moreover, since its first launch in 2011, Siri will be able to more precisely control applications and analyze content on the user's screen for the first time.

However, according to media reports, when Apple showcased these features at WWDC, they only used a video demonstration, and there was merely a barely functional prototype at that time. Walker stated at the meeting that this delay is particularly "ugly" because Apple has already showcased these features to the public.

"This is not the case where we developed everything first and then told people, we told everyone first."

"Worse yet," Walker stated that Apple's marketing team wanted to promote these enhanced features in advance. Although the features were not ready, Apple still advertised them in a series of marketing campaigns and television ads launched last year.

Moreover, Apple positioned these features as key selling points of the iPhone 16 series, which itself lacks significant changes. Additionally, this is part of Apple's broader AI strategy - Apple Intelligence.

Walker also expressed doubts about whether the features could be released at the currently expected time. Although Apple's goal is to launch them alongside iOS 19, he said, "that doesn't mean we will definitely be able to release them at that time," as the company is still developing multiple priority projects and must make trade-offs.

He mentioned several Apple software and Hardware projects and stated that the company would determine the release date case by case during the specific product development process.

Apple also has Other important commitments that they hope to fulfill, and their timelines are now more urgent, prioritized over the delayed Siri features.

Users not only expect these new features but also hope for a more comprehensive upgrade for Siri. These features and more will be launched as soon as possible, provided they are ready.

Apple's new technology success rate is only 66% to 80%.

Walker stated that he, along with his superior John Giannandrea (head of Apple's AI department), Craig Federighi (software chief), and Other executives, bear a high level of personal responsibility for this project.

As of Friday, informed sources revealed to the media that Apple currently has no plans to immediately fire any executives, but this decision could change at any time. Regardless, the company is prepared for management adjustments, including moving more senior executives to Giannandrea's team to push for improvements in the Siri project. Additionally, Apple has appointed long-time executive Kim Vorrath (known for his crisis management skills) to the team.

Walker indicated that the reason for the delayed release was quality issues, as the company found the success rate for new technologies to be only 66% to 80%, meaning that an error would occur roughly once in every three interactions. "We can continue to improve to raise this success rate further, making it truly reliable for users," he said.

Recently, Federighi expressed concerns to other senior management about the performance of Siri features, ultimately leading the company to decide to postpone the release. According to reports, the technical issues with Apple Intelligence were apparent from the beginning, as the company had already delayed the first batch of AI features last year and provided a vague timeline at the launch event.

However, Walker defended the Siri team at the meeting, stating that they should be proud. He said that the employees are fully committed, "I see many people working hard to push this project forward and making incredible progress." At the meeting, Walker showcased some examples of technology that has already been realized, such as finding driver's license numbers upon user request, locating specific children's photos, and precisely controlling applications, such as embedding email content and adding recipients.

But Apple still hopes to maintain high standards to ensure that the features meet polished and refined levels. Walker emphasized at the end that the company wishes to integrate these features into iOS 19 as soon as possible to avoid further problems.

He optimistically concluded the meeting: "We will build the world's most outstanding virtual assistant."

Editor/rice