Internal conflicts
Some of the biggest problems, however, appear to be based on misalignment of budget, as some teams got less than they needed to put effective AI solutions together. Some of the blame sits at the feet of Apple’s AI leader, John Giannandrea, who insiders say should have been more aggressive in pursuing the funding he needed. He should have shouted harder to get what he needed, the report implies.
Other claims lean into assertions we’ve already heard, such as the idea that after resistance to genAI investment, Apple SVP of software engineering Craig Federighi had a eureka moment as to its importance when using ChatGPT on a personal coding project. It seems that at that point, he finally understood the threat posed by genAI and mandated that work on artificial intelligence intensify – which is when work on what we now call “Apple Intelligence” really began.
Changing tactics
Apple has been changing its approach rapidly in recent months, since the company famously missed its schedule for launch of the biggest Apple Intelligence feature of contextual intelligence in Siri. That miss has clearly become a crisis at Apple. Since it was revealed, elements of the existing AI leadership have been shifted aside, projects realigned, and budgets reallocated, but the problems aren’t yet resolved.
