Apple Finally Revealed the New Siri. Wall Street Wasn't Impressed.

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Yesterday, at Tim Cook's final keynote as CEO, Apple unveiled the completely rebuilt Siri it has been promising since 2024. It is smarter, more conversational, can see what is on your screen, and is powered under the hood by Google's Gemini. It was the most important AI moment in Apple's recent history. And the market's response was a shrug, with the stock actually falling. Here is what Apple actually showed, why investors were underwhelmed, and what it means for the iPhone in your pocket.

After two years of delays and broken promises, Apple finally delivered the Siri overhaul. The highlight of the show was the new version of Siri that lives across all of its platforms to perform complex actions. From being able to know what you're looking at on your phone, to automating tasks across different apps, Siri AI is the biggest update to the assistant ever since the rollout of Siri over a decade ago. Medium

The new Siri is built to actually understand you and your world. With Google Gemini under the hood, Apple claims that the new Siri updates will make it more capable, conversational, and compatible with visual intelligence. In one of the demos, the personal-context features were on full display. Apple was able to ask Siri for directions to a landmark seen in an Instagram post. That is the kind of everyday-useful trick Siri has never been able to do before. MIT Technology ReviewNPR

Apple also leaned hard into its own AI, not just Google's. Apple created a second version of its Apple Foundation Models, the company announced on Monday. The company said the model can understand speech, and read text and images. The system intelligently decides which AI to use for which task. "We integrated our models deeply into our platforms, enabling a wide range of system-wide capabilities, and Apple Intelligence securely coordinates across them with a new system orchestrator," Federighi said. Beyond Siri, there were the usual broad updates, including a redesign of the Liquid Glass look and new Apple Intelligence tools, like the ability to make complex photo edits just by describing them. NPRNPR

TechCrunch's full WWDC 2026 recap: https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/09/wwdc-2026-everything-announced-on-siri-ai-os-27-apple-intelligence-and-more/

Tom's Guide's complete announcement roundup: https://www.tomsguide.com/news/live/wwdc-2026-live-news-updates

Here is the surprising part. Despite finally delivering the long-promised Siri, the market reaction was negative. Apple's stock declined almost 2% on the first day of Apple CEO Tim Cook's final Worldwide Developers Conference. The reason was more perceived letdown on the artificial intelligence front, which reawakened chatter that Apple won't dominate in the AI era. Time

The core problem is one we flagged in our preview: Apple is leaning on Google rather than its own technology, and that makes some people question whether Apple can really lead in AI. There was a slightly awkward contradiction in the pitch, too. Apple said Siri will no longer hand off your query to third-party AI providers like ChatGPT, that is, if you ignore the fact that Siri AI is powered by Google's Gemini model. Apple framed the new Siri as more self-contained, while simultaneously depending on its biggest rival's AI to power it. ScienceDaily

There was even a detail that underscored just how much Apple is relying on others. The AFM Cloud Pro model is for the most demanding tasks and is similar in quality to Gemini Frontier models. AFM Cloud Pro will run on Nvidia GPUs in Google's cloud. In other words, Apple's most powerful AI runs on Google's cloud, using Nvidia's chips. For a company famous for controlling everything itself, that is a striking amount of dependence on other companies, and investors noticed. NPR

Yahoo Finance on why the reveal left investors disappointed: https://finance.yahoo.com/sectors/technology/article/why-apples-wwdc-and-siri-ai-hype-left-investors-sad-113633979.html

Apple did not just concede the AI race. It made a pointed argument that its approach is actually better, and took a clear shot at competitors like OpenAI and Google along the way. "Some appear to be racing forward, seemingly pursuing AI for the sake of AI, without clear regard to the people, all of us, that it's ultimately meant to serve," Federighi said. NPR

The heart of Apple's pitch is that its AI is more useful precisely because it knows you. Federighi argued that Apple Intelligence, the company's software, is more useful because it uses personal information and data. The bet is that an assistant with secure access to your emails, photos, calendar, and what is on your screen can do genuinely helpful things that a generic chatbot cannot, and that Apple can do this while protecting your privacy better than its rivals. NPR

Whether that argument lands with users is the open question. Many Apple fans care deeply about privacy and will appreciate the approach. Others just want the AI to be as smart and capable as ChatGPT or Gemini, and they will judge the new Siri purely on whether it works well. Apple is betting that useful-plus-private beats raw-power-alone. The next few months of real-world use will determine whether that bet pays off.

CNBC's on-the-ground coverage of the keynote: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/08/apple-wwdc-2026-live-updates.html

Here is the practical takeaway if you own an iPhone or are considering one.

First, Siri is about to get genuinely better, but you will need to wait and see how much. The new features, understanding your screen, handling multi-step requests, working across your apps, are real upgrades to a tool that has frustrated people for over a decade. But Apple has overpromised on Siri before, so the honest move is to reserve judgment until the beta is in real hands and we can see whether it actually delivers in everyday use. The rollout will happen over the coming months as part of iOS 27.

Second, the privacy angle is a real differentiator worth considering. If you are someone who is uneasy about your personal data being sent to AI companies, Apple's emphasis on on-device processing and secure handling of your information is a genuine point in its favor, even with Gemini powering the cloud features. If you mainly care about having the smartest possible assistant, you may still find ChatGPT or Gemini more capable for now.

Third, this was the end of an era at Apple, and that matters for where the company goes next. It marks CEO Tim Cook's last WWDC with the company, after announcing he's handing things off to Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering John Ternus on September 1. Cook got emotional closing out his final keynote. Apple CEO Tim Cook wiped a tear during his final Apple Worldwide Developers Conference. The new Siri and the AI turnaround are, in a real sense, the challenge Cook is handing to his successor. Whether Apple catches up in AI will be one of the defining questions of the next leader's tenure, and it will directly shape how good the iPhone in your pocket becomes over the next few years. MIT Technology ReviewNPR

We will keep tracking Apple's AI turnaround and bring you the verdict once the new Siri is in real hands. Stay sharp out there.

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AI changed what senior engineering means. Gauntlet is built for engineers who want to lead that change — not watch it. The most effective way to become AI-first. No tuition. No tutorials. Just the work. Apply now.

Cohort is filling up now

_{Must be a US citizen to qualify.}