Apple has been notably quiet on the AI front in 2025, choosing to delay its long-anticipated next-generation Siri until the coming year. This shift marks a pivotal moment for the company, which has so far stayed on the sidelines of the AI revolution that began with OpenAI’s launch of ChatGPT in late 2022. While rivals like Google, Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon have made bold moves—releasing advanced chatbots, generative AI tools, and custom AI chips—Apple has focused on incremental updates, with its most notable AI offering being Apple Intelligence, introduced in 2024. That suite included features like AI-powered notification summarization, text rewriting, and image generation, but many of its capabilities have been underwhelming or poorly implemented, with some features, like AI-based push notification rewriting, briefly disabled due to inaccuracies. The company’s decision to delay the new Siri, originally expected in 2025, was a clear signal that Apple is prioritizing quality over speed. Tim Cook has told investors that progress on the assistant has been significant, raising the bar for what users can expect. Analysts like Gene Munster of Deepwater Asset Management interpret this as Apple’s way of saying, “Don’t expect anything this year—wait until next year, and we’ll blow you away.” Despite the lack of a major AI product, Apple’s stock has risen 12% in 2025, driven largely by strong performance from the iPhone 17, which impressed investors with its design and features. The iPhone is projected to remain the top-selling smartphone globally in 2025 and beyond, according to Counterpoint Research. Analysts note that while AI is transforming the tech landscape, it hasn’t yet fundamentally altered the smartphone experience in a way that threatens Apple’s dominance. Still, the pressure is mounting. Google’s stock has surged over 60% this year, fueled by its AI leadership and custom AI chips. Nvidia, the backbone of the AI boom, has overtaken Apple to become the most valuable tech company. Meanwhile, OpenAI launched Sora 2, a video-generating AI that briefly topped the App Store, and Anthropic released new versions of its Claude model. Even Meta, which has been reevaluating its AI strategy, is preparing to launch a new frontier model codenamed Avocado. Apple’s approach to AI is fundamentally different. Instead of relying on cloud-based infrastructure and massive data centers, Apple is building AI into its devices using its own custom chips, emphasizing user privacy. This strategy has led to a much smaller capital expenditure compared to its peers—Apple spent $12.71 billion on capital in the year ended September, a 35% increase but still less than in 2018. The company is not using Nvidia’s GPUs for Apple Intelligence, choosing instead to leverage its own silicon. To strengthen its AI leadership, Apple has made key internal changes. John Giannandrea, the company’s top AI strategist, will retire in 2026, with his responsibilities split among COO Sabih Khan, services chief Eddy Cue, and new hire Amar Subramanya, a former Google and Microsoft AI executive. The public announcement of Subramanya’s hiring underscores Apple’s intent to signal a serious commitment to AI. The big question remains: will Apple partner with a third-party AI model, such as Google’s Gemini or OpenAI’s ChatGPT, to power the new Siri? Currently, Siri defers complex queries to ChatGPT. Apple has not ruled out integrating other foundation models, and CEO Cook has said the company is open to large acquisitions, though the valuations of top AI startups like OpenAI and Anthropic—reaching $500 billion and $350 billion respectively—make such deals nearly impossible. The real threat may come from within. Jony Ive, Apple’s former design chief, now leads OpenAI’s hardware development, working on new AI devices that could redefine user interaction. OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman has said the company’s true rival isn’t Google, but Apple. He believes smartphones are not the future of AI, and that new, more intuitive devices are on the horizon. While Apple still has time, the window is closing. As Munster put it, the new Siri must be a “10 out of 10” when it launches. The stakes are high—not just for Apple’s innovation image, but for its long-term relevance in a world where AI is no longer a feature, but the platform.