Why Apple is sidestepping Silicon Valley’s AI bloodsport
Why Apple is sidestepping Silicon Valley’s AI bloodsport
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Publish Date: 2026-02-24 18:12:00
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Apple CEO Tim Cook barely mentioned AI during Tuesday’s marketing event. – Nic Coury/AFP/Getty Images
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As expected, Apple rolled out a bunch of gadget upgrades during its closely watched marketing event on Tuesday. But perhaps the most notable thing about its crisply edited, hour-and-ten-minute propaganda reel was this: Apple went really quiet when it came to artificial intelligence.
The theme of the day was Apple’s bread and butter: hardware. It’s got new AirPods that can translate bilingual conversations in real time, a watch that can monitor your blood pressure and, of course, a skinny phone. There was plenty of hype, to be sure — CEO Tim Cook’s opening monologue heralded the iPhone 17 as “the biggest leap ever for iPhone.”
But not once did an Apple executive grandstand about how their artificial intelligence models would upend the global economy. Heck, they barely talked about AI upending their own products. The words “Apple Intelligence,” the company’s proprietary AI, rarely came up. (I counted four passing references to it in the entire video.)
Also telling: No one talked about Siri, the voice assistant feature that has become a vector of Apple’s AI ambitions. Not even once.
Long story short, Apple overhauled Siri to incorporate Apple Intelligence last year, and it was a disaster. Apple had to claw back key features, including its (very funny but very inaccurate) text message and news app summaries.
It was a rare stumble for the most brand-conscious tech company on the planet, and it’s not about to risk another “overpromise, underdeliver” moment.
“Apple (is) sidestepping the heart of the AI arms race while positioning itself as a longtime innovator on the AI hardware front,” Emarketer analyst Gadjo Sevilla said in a note Tuesday. “It’s a reminder that Apple’s competitive advantage remains rooted in product…
