Apple's $10B+ Siri AI Disaster

MILLION-DOLLAR AUTOPSY Mondays

"This was not one of these situations where we get to show people our plan after it's done. We showed people before." — Robby Walker, Head of Apple's Siri team

THE CORPORATE FAIRY TALE VS. THE BRUTAL REALITY

WHAT THEY PROMISED:

Apple dazzled the world with polished keynotes, epic commercials, and confident claims:

• "Apple Intelligence is a game changer" — Tim Cook, June 2024 (Source)

• "Revolutionizing personal intelligence" — Apple Press Release

• "The most advanced AI assistant ever created" — WWDC 2024 Keynote (Source)

• "Features that will transform your digital life" — TV commercials

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED:

• Spring 2025 release completely abandoned

• 33% failure rate in internal testing (1 in 3 responses were garbage) (Source)

• Engineers described situation as "ugly" and "embarrassing" in all-hands meeting

• Heavily marketed features now delayed until 2026 at earliest

• $400B+ in market cap evaporated

• Entire AI teams described as "burnt out"

Here's the most alarming part: If Apple – with $200B+ cash reserves and the world's best engineers – can't make AI work reliably, what chance does YOUR company have?

THE $10 BILLION BLUNDER: INSIDE APPLE'S AI HOUSE OF CARDS

Let's cut through the corporate bullshit and examine what actually happened inside one of the world's most valuable companies:

PHASE 1: PANIC AT THE TOP

• Google releases Gemini

• OpenAI dominates headlines with GPT-4

• Microsoft integrates AI into everything

• Apple investors demand action

• Cook feels pressure to show "innovation"

PHASE 2: THE RUSHED ANNOUNCEMENT

• June 2024: Apple announces "Apple Intelligence" at WWDC

• Stock price jumps to all-time high

• Marketing machine goes into overdrive

• TV commercials promise AI revolution

• Developers get access to unfinished tools

INSIDER INSIGHT: Your company is likely in Phase 2 right now – promising AI capabilities you can't deliver because executives are terrified of being left behind.

PHASE 3: REALITY HITS HARD

• Internal testing shows catastrophic failure rates

• Privacy constraints make performance worse

• Engineers working nights and weekends

• Management hides problems from executives

• Team starts realizing promised timeline impossible

PHASE 4: THE QUIET DEATH

• Spring 2025 release silently abandoned (Source)

• Team lead admits failure in closed-door meeting

• Engineers "embarrassed" about over-promising

• Damage control begins

• No executives fired (yet)

THE CAREER KILLER: At every company we've consulted for, Phase 4 is where careers end. When projects this visible fail, someone takes the fall – and it's rarely the executives who made the promises.

THE NUMBERS THEY DON'T WANT YOU TO SEE

Investment Wasted: