Apple is about to introduce the “new Siri” for the third time, and according to The Verge AI, its years of falling behind on AI might quietly turn into an advantage. At WWDC, the company is expected to reintroduce a Gemini-enhanced Siri, the same assistant it first promised in 2024 and never fully shipped. The Verge AI reports that Apple’s promotion of those undelivered Apple Intelligence features was misleading enough that the company is now settling a class-action lawsuit and paying iPhone owners for capabilities that never arrived.
That’s a rough starting point. But here’s what stands out: losing the race might position Apple better than winning it would have.
Why being behind could pay off
Let’s be clear about the gap. Google’s Gemini already orders Ubers, handles DoorDash, reads your calendar, and tells you when to leave for the airport. As The Verge AI puts it, Gemini won the assistant race “fair and square.” Apple isn’t close.
The catch is that the better these assistants get, the creepier they feel. The Verge AI’s Allison Johnson describes giving Gemini access to her photos and Gmail, then feeling her “skin crawl” hearing it say her son’s name out loud. Wanting an assistant that anticipates your next move is one thing. Watching it actually happen is another. There’s a growing distrust of AI, especially among young people, and that distrust is where Apple sees an opening.
The clean-hands strategy
Apple’s reported plan is to build the new Siri on top of Gemini, paying Google handsomely for the privilege. Being one step removed has real upside:
- No data center backlash. Google’s name is attached to massive, unpopular construction projects in communities across the country. Apple’s isn’t, even if its payments to Google help fund that same buildout.
- No AI-buttons-everywhere fatigue. You can’t open a Google app now without a Gemini sparkle in your face. Apple can position Siri as the assistant that stays out of your way.
- The privacy pitch. Expect Apple to lean hard on Private Cloud Compute and a new option to auto-delete chats after a set period, rather than hoarding your data by default.
This is classic Apple. Let someone else absorb the public anger, then sell the calmer, more private alternative.
Why this matters now
The assistant wars are shifting from “who can do the most” to “who do you trust in your pocket.” The Verge AI’s reporting, citing Bloomberg, suggests the new Siri will surface in a lot of places: the Dynamic Island, Photos, possibly its own dedicated Siri app for the first time. That’s a far more visible Siri than the timer-setting helper most people ignore today.
But a stumbled-into advantage can vanish fast. Apple can frame its slow rollout as the responsible choice, and that’s not a bad bet. The problem is that the time for false starts is over. Siri has to actually work this time.
What to watch and what to do
For practitioners and businesses building on these platforms, a few takeaways:
- Trust is becoming a feature, not a footnote. If Apple makes privacy and restraint a selling point, expect users to start demanding it elsewhere. Build with data minimization in mind now.
- Don’t assume capability wins. Gemini is more capable, yet public unease is real. The mainstream reaction as these features go wide will shape adoption more than benchmarks do.
- Watch the surfacing. How aggressively Apple pushes Siri into Photos, messages, and the Dynamic Island will signal whether it’s chasing Google’s everywhere-at-once approach or betting on a quieter one.
Apple gets a rare second chance here. As The Verge AI notes, you can’t count on a third. The next year will show whether playing from behind was strategy or just a story Apple tells about being late. More details are at the original report from The Verge AI.