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Apple unveiled an overhaul of its operating systems at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), including the highly anticipated transformation of its digital assistant into “Siri AI.”
The event also marked an emotional milestone for the tech giant, serving as Tim Cook’s final WWDC keynote before he steps down as CEO in September after 15 years at the helm.
The centrepiece of the presentation was the introduction of Siri AI, a ground-up rebuild designed to answer persistent criticism that Apple had fallen behind its competitors, including OpenAI and Anthropic.
Operating across Apple’s ecosystem and within a new, dedicated conversational app interface, Siri AI marks a shift from a rigid voice command tool to a contextual, conversational assistant.
According to Apple, the upgraded assistant can securely analyse a user’s past interactions, synthesize broad-world knowledge, and demonstrate an understanding of images and on-screen context. Under the hood, the system is powered by Apple Foundation Models developed in partnership with Google, leveraging the search giant’s Gemini models and cloud infrastructure.
Craig Federighi, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Software Engineering, took an unusual public swipe at competitors during the presentation, critiquing “AI for the sake of AI without considering the people it’s supposed to be able to serve.” Federighi claimed that Siri AI was built with privacy “at every step.”
A beta version of Siri AI will launch later this year for devices set to English. However, EU users will be left out due to a regulatory impasse with European officials over virtual assistant compatibility.
Beyond AI, Apple detailed critical trust and safety features coming to its next operating system, iOS 27. Addressing heavy pressure from child safety advocates, including demonstrators who protested outside Apple Park on Monday morning, the company is expanding its parental control frameworks.
A new “ask” feature will require parental approval before children can text or call unknown individuals. Additionally, Apple will deploy automatic system-level censorship to flag and block violent or sexually explicit images sent to a child’s device.
The security updates coincide with growing political pressure, including a speech on Monday by UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer demanding tech platforms block under-18s from accessing explicit content.
The keynote concluded with a poignant farewell from Cook, who will transition to Executive Chairman on September 1, handing the CEO reins to hardware engineering chief John Ternus. Addressed by a standing ovation from thousands of developers, an emotional Cook called leading the company “the honour of a lifetime.”
“Your imagination and ingenuity have inspired me for the last 15 years,” Cook told the crowd, closing a historic chapter for Apple as it pivots toward an AI-centric future.
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