Apple Bets on Caution as AI Spending Frenzy Faces Scrutiny, With Siri Overhaul Set for 2026

As Big Tech pours unprecedented sums into artificial intelligence, Apple is charting a markedly different course—one defined by restraint, patience, and strategic optionality. A new report by The Information suggests that while rivals such as OpenAI, Google, and Meta are committing hundreds of billions of dollars to data centres, custom chips, and large language model (LLM) training, Apple has deliberately held back, drawing both criticism and renewed interest from investors.

Falling Behind—or Waiting It Out?

Apple’s measured approach has fueled a growing narrative that the company is lagging in AI, particularly in consumer-facing products. Siri, once a pioneer when it launched in 2011, has struggled to keep pace with newer, more capable conversational systems such as ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. Issues around reliability, contextual understanding, and task execution have left Siri widely seen as outdated.

Yet the report argues that this apparent weakness may reflect a strategic calculation rather than neglect. As enthusiasm for massive AI capital expenditure begins to cool, questions are emerging across markets about whether such spending can deliver meaningful near-term revenue. Against this backdrop, Apple’s limited AI-specific investment has allowed it to amass more than $130 billion in cash and marketable securities, preserving flexibility to acquire startups or strike partnerships if valuations correct.

Siri’s Long-Awaited Reinvention

Apple’s most significant AI-related development in 2026 is expected to be a comprehensive overhaul of Siri, slated for release in the spring. According to the report, the revamped assistant will be far more conversational and capable of handling complex, multi-step tasks—an area where it has long lagged behind competitors.

Notably, Apple is believed to be relying on Google’s Gemini models to power parts of the new Siri experience. This reflects an internal view that foundational LLMs may increasingly become commoditized, reducing the strategic value of building and maintaining expensive proprietary models from scratch.

The iPhone Advantage

While Apple may trail in headline AI breakthroughs, The Information notes that it retains a powerful structural advantage: distribution. Unlike AI startups that depend on standalone apps or web platforms, Apple can deploy AI features directly through system updates across hundreds of millions of iPhones, iPads, and Macs.

Efforts by AI companies to build competing hardware face formidable barriers, including manufacturing scale, global distribution, and ecosystem lock-in—areas where Apple has decades of experience and deep consumer loyalty. This gives the company a unique ability to integrate AI at the operating system level, rather than as an add-on service.

Leadership Changes Signal a Reset

The report also highlights recent leadership changes as evidence of a broader reset in Apple’s AI strategy. Siri has been placed under the oversight of Mike Rockwell, the executive who led development of the Vision Pro headset, following repeated delays to the assistant’s overhaul.

Meanwhile, Apple’s long-time AI chief John Giannandrea announced his retirement earlier this month. Parts of his organization have since been redistributed into product-focused teams, amid internal concerns that Apple’s AI efforts lacked clear direction and accountability.

A Familiar Apple Playbook?

Apple’s cautious stance on AI echoes earlier chapters in its history. The company has often entered emerging technologies later than competitors—smartphones, wearables, and even AI itself—but succeeded by refining them into tightly integrated, mass-market products. While its early AI efforts have been uneven, the report notes that these shortcomings have not materially damaged Apple’s core businesses or financial performance.