NYT: Apple's AI Struggles Began with 2023 Chip Budget Dispute

Apple's current struggles with Apple Intelligence and Siri began in early 2023 when AI head John Giannandrea sought approval from CEO Tim Cook to purchase more AI chips for development, according to a new report from The New York Times.

apple intelligence black
Cook initially approved doubling the team's chip budget, but CFO Luca Maestri reportedly reduced the increase to less than half that amount, and instead encouraged the team to make existing chips more efficient.

The lack of adequate GPU resources meant Apple's AI team had to negotiate for computing power from providers like Google and Amazon.

At the time, Apple's data centers had about 50,000 GPUs that were more than five years old – far fewer than the hundreds of thousands of chips being purchased by competitors like Microsoft, Google, and Meta.

The NYT report goes on to cover the leadership conflicts within the company, describing a power struggle between Robby Walker, who oversaw Siri, and Sebastien Marineau-Mes, a senior executive with the software team. The two reportedly battled over who would spearhead Siri's new capabilities, with both ultimately receiving pieces of the project.

Apple Intelligence faced significant delays after internal testing revealed Siri was inaccurate on nearly a third of requests. Apple subsequently admitted that it would take longer than expected to roll out the more personalized ‌Siri‌ experience, and that these features will be rolled out "in the coming year."

However, according to the report, Apple still plans to release its enhanced Siri experience this fall. The functionality includes personal context, onscreen awareness, and improved app integration. Some Apple executives reportedly aren't concerned about the delay, and believe competitors haven't perfected AI either, giving Apple time to get it right.

Following the delay, software chief Craig Federighi reorganized executives, removing responsibility for the new Siri from Giannandrea and reassigning it to Mike Rockwell, who leads the Vision Pro division. The details of Apple's Siri team changes and the delayed Siri revamp were previously reported by Bloomberg and The Information.

For more details on Apple's internal issues, including political infighting, budget constraints, and talent drain, see The New York Times' full report.

Popular Stories

iOS 26 Battery Glass Feature

iPhone 16 Pro Max 80% Charge Limit: One Year Later, Was It Worth It?

Wednesday September 24, 2025 3:58 pm PDT by
With the iPhone 15 series, I did an experiment and kept my iPhone's Charge Limit set at 80 percent for an entire year. It provided an interesting look at the impact of charge limits on battery longevity, so I decided to repeat it for the iPhone 16 line. Since September 2024, my iPhone 16 Pro Max has been limited to an 80 percent charge, with no cheating. As of today, my battery's maximum...
iOS 26

Everything New in iOS 26.1 Beta 1

Monday September 22, 2025 12:44 pm PDT by
Apple released the first beta of iOS 26.1 today, just a week after launching iOS 26. iOS 26.1 mainly adds new languages to Apple Intelligence, but there are a few other features that are worth knowing about. New Apple Intelligence Languages Apple Intelligence is now available in Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. AirPo...
iPhone 17 Pro Colors

Skipped the iPhone 17 Pro? Here's What is Rumored for iPhone 18 Pro

Tuesday September 23, 2025 8:55 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are still a year away, there are already a few rumors about the devices that offer an early look ahead. Below, we have recapped some of the early iPhone 18 Pro rumors so far. This story was published previously, and it has been updated to reflect the latest rumors. Many early rumors prove to be true, but nothing is confirmed yet, and Apple's...
apple tv 4k new orange

Next Apple TV Expected to Launch This Year With These New Features

Monday September 22, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
The next Apple TV is expected to be released later this year, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the next Apple TV, according to rumors. Likely Features N1 Chip With Wi-Fi 7 Last year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the next Apple TV would be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, which is...
iPhone 17 Pro USB C Port

iPhone 17 Pro Max's USB-C Charging Speeds Tested With Apple Chargers

Monday September 22, 2025 7:29 am PDT by
The website ChargerLAB has tested the iPhone 17 Pro Max's USB-C charging speeds with a variety of Apple's chargers, from 18W to 140W. The device reached a peak charging speed of around 36W with the following Apple chargers:40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max 61W USB-C Power Adapter 67W USB-C Power Adapter 70W USB-C Power Adapter 96W USB-C Power Adapter 140W USB-C Power AdapterFor...
iphone 17 pro dark blue 1

Apple Blames In-Store MagSafe Chargers for iPhone 17 Pro Display Model Scratches

Wednesday September 24, 2025 10:22 am PDT by
The marks on the iPhone 17 Pro models that people have noticed at Apple retail stores are caused by the chargers that Apple uses, Apple confirmed today. Apple told 9to5Mac that worn MagSafe charging stands in stores are causing marks on the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max. Apple says that the marks are not scratches, and are instead material transfer from the stand to the phone. The...
AirPods Pro 3 Newsroom

Apple's 'Back to School' Offer Ends Soon, Now Applies to AirPods Pro 3

Wednesday September 24, 2025 7:20 am PDT by
Apple's annual "Back to School" promotion for students ends soon, so act fast if you want to score free AirPods with the purchase of an eligible new Mac or iPad. Until Tuesday, September 30, college students and qualifying educational staff in the U.S. can receive free AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation when they purchase an eligible new Mac or iPad from Apple. This is a $179 value. ...
ios 26 digital id passport wallet

Apple Confirms iOS 26 Wallet Passport Feature is Coming in 2025

Tuesday September 23, 2025 1:06 pm PDT by
Digital ID, the iOS 26 feature that lets U.S. passport holders add their passports to the Wallet app, is coming later in 2025, Apple confirmed today. Apple updated the release timing wording of Digital ID on its iOS 26 features page. "Digital ID will be coming later this year with US passports only," it reads. Prior to today, the footnote for the feature said "Digital ID will be available ...
Apple Intelligence General Feature 2

iOS 26.1 Adds New Apple Intelligence Languages and Expands AirPods Live Translation

Monday September 22, 2025 11:15 am PDT by
With iOS 26.1, Apple Intelligence is gaining support for additional languages, including Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. Apple announced plans to expand the languages that can be used with Apple Intelligence last year, and now the added language support is here. Apple Intelligence is now available in the following...
maxresdefault

iPhone 17 Pro is Vulnerable to Scratching, But Not Where You Might Think

Tuesday September 23, 2025 2:18 pm PDT by
Early reports have suggested that the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air are more vulnerable to scratches and scuffs, primarily due to damage spotted at Apple Stores. Apple customers have discovered that the iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro models Apple has out for display at its retail locations have scratching in the area of the MagSafe charger. Those devices are handled by hundreds to thousands of...

Top Rated Comments

wanha Avatar
24 weeks ago
Sounds like Apple committed the cardinal sin of innovation:

Trying to innovate in a cost-effective way.

That's a contradiction, because innovation requires exploring unknown territory, which means trying approaches that may not work.

Without this exploration, a company limits itself to incremental improvements within known boundaries - ie not actual innovation.

Innovation is thus inefficient by definition, and it requires leadership to acknowledge this in order for innovation to receive the resources it needs.
Score: 34 Votes (Like | Disagree)
antnythr Avatar
24 weeks ago
Apple Employees: Can we have AI?

Apple: We have AI at home

The AI at home:

At the time, Apple's data centers had about 50,000 GPUs that were more than five years old — far fewer than the hundreds of thousands of chips being purchased by competitors like Microsoft, Google, and Meta.
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
0049190 Avatar
24 weeks ago
Why is the world’s richest company penny pinching on development costs? They seem more interested in their share price than their products and customers.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
D-a-a-n Avatar
24 weeks ago
Seems like they're struggling with a lot of things lately. Vision Pro, AI, software quality,... Maybe too many politics at board level.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Falco McGregor Avatar
24 weeks ago
So now we have John Giannandrea or people close to him leaking to the press that the Apple Intelligence issues aren’t his fault. Reports from Bloomberg, The Information and now The NY Times on this are basically spinning narratives from the different camps at Apple to pin the blame. And at the end of the day, it sounds like most of these features will be out by September anyway. Embarrassing for sure but not nearly as big a story as the macro-economic forces that are far more a threat to Apple in the next three years.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Jarman74 Avatar
24 weeks ago

Cook initially approved doubling the team's chip budget, but CFO Luca Maestri reportedly reduced the increase to less than half that amount, and instead encouraged the team to make existing chips more efficient.
What’s most staggering here is that Siri’s abysmal performance compared to the competition went unnoticed or was brushed off, even in light of ChatGPT’s obvious superiority at the beginning of 2023—especially when GPT-4 was released.

I’m all for sensible investment and spending, but if you failed to notice that Siri was being outperformed by every other assistant year after year—and despite sitting on an unfathomable pile of cash, you remained hellbent on penny-pinching—the full responsibility for the Apple Intelligence debacle falls squarely on you. It leaves me wondering whether Maestri was shown the door when the mistakes could no longer be swept under the rug.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)