Apple’s Siri bootcamp push
Apple has enrolled roughly 200 Siri engineers in a multi‑week AI coding bootcamp as part of a broader effort to rebuild Siri’s execution capabilities. The move accompanies a leadership reshuffle reported to place Craig Federighi over AI initiatives and Mike Rockwell leading Siri after John Giannandrea’s departure. (digit.in)
Apple is sending fewer than 200 Siri engineers to a multi-week artificial intelligence coding bootcamp as it races to rebuild the assistant before WWDC in June. (theinformation.com) The Information reported the training will focus on AI-assisted coding tools such as Anthropic’s Claude Code and OpenAI’s Codex, with classes starting this week for part of the Siri team. MacRumors and 9to5Mac, citing that report, said the group represents a sizable share of the engineers working on Siri. (theinformation.com) (macrumors.com) (9to5mac.com) The bootcamp comes after Apple reshuffled its AI leadership in March 2025. Bloomberg reported then that Mike Rockwell, who had led Vision Pro, took over Siri and began reporting to software chief Craig Federighi, removing Siri from John Giannandrea’s chain of command. (bloomberg.com) (apple.com) Apple’s problem is not basic voice commands. The delayed upgrade is the version of Siri Apple unveiled at WWDC on June 10, 2024, with “personal context,” onscreen awareness, and the ability to take action within and across apps. (apple.com) (developer.apple.com 1) (developer.apple.com 2) Apple acknowledged on March 7, 2025 that those features were running late. In a statement reported by Reuters, the company said it expected to roll them out in 2026 instead of the 2025 window it had previously signaled. (daringfireball.net) (cnbc.com) Since then, reporting has pointed to a deeper rebuild. Reuters, citing Bloomberg on March 31, 2026, said Apple was testing a Siri feature that can handle multiple commands in one request, part of a broader effort to make the assistant work more like newer AI chatbots. (reuters.com) WWDC26 starts June 8 and runs through June 12, giving Apple less than two months to show developers what comes next for Siri. The company has not publicly announced the bootcamp or a release date for the delayed assistant features. (developer.apple.com) (apple.com) The immediate test is whether the retraining and management reset produce software Apple is willing to put onstage in June. After promising a more capable Siri in 2024 and delaying it in 2025, Apple now has to show that the rebuild is moving. (apple.com) (daringfireball.net) (developer.apple.com)
