Today at WWDC Apple is expected to announce major AI upgrades in iOS 27, including the long-awaited Siri overhaul. A new report from Bloomberg details how we got here, including fresh details on the internal shakeups at Apple during its AI pivot.
Here’s how Apple’s internal AI pivot happened, per Bloomberg
Today’s WWDC keynote is expected to focus heavily on AI upgrades thanks to a new partnership with Google for Gemini technology.
Ahead of the announcements, Mark Gurman shared a new report this weekend detailing many of the inner workings of Apple’s pivot on AI.
Apple Intelligence first debuted in 2024 using in-house technology. But Apple’s inability to deliver promised Siri features eventually led to a full strategy overhaul, with the new Google partnership a major shift from Apple’s original AI plans.
Here’s how that happened, per Mark Gurman in his Power On newsletter:
Around early 2025, Apple Inc. executives held a consequential meeting in a conference room near the software engineering department overseen by Craig Federighi. […]
Cook himself wasn’t there, and Jeff Williams, the company’s now-retired COO, called the meeting to order. The discussion centered on what had by then become a growing crisis: Apple Intelligence, the company’s new AI platform, was a flop, and a critical overhaul of the Siri digital assistant was on the verge of being delayed.
The purpose of the meeting quickly became to formulate a recommendation to Cook about how the company should respond.
Some noteworthy details about this meeting include:
Federighi leading the meeting, and being the most prominent voice in the discussion
Mike Rockwell having a strong voice as well, and ultimately volunteering in that meeting to lead the effort to fix Siri
Cook’s absence from the meeting, as executives discussed what proposed course of action to bring to him later
John Giannandrea’s presence at the meeting, which led to his eventual ouster
Gurman says that Cook was on the verge of approving the plan in March 2025, at the time of Apple’s annual Top 100 retreat for leaders.
However, one disagreement was that Rockwell believed he would become the new AI head, replacing Giannandrea. But Federighi argued Rockwell should take over Siri, but report to him as part of the software team.
That plan is the one that ultimately won out. And today at WWDC, we’ll see the first fruits of it.
The full report has plenty of other interesting details about Apple’s AI pivot, including that Cook was uncharacteristically involved in the recent AI developments, “unilaterally making decisions about Apple’s plans for the technology.”
Best iPhone accessories
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.