New Apple CEO Faces Critical Test with Stumbling Siri

As Apple's new CEO takes over, they inherit a massive company that is still struggling to keep up in the AI era. According to Daniel Newman, CEO of Futurum Group, one key area where Apple falls short is its AI assistant Siri.

Newman noted that under Tim Cook's leadership, Apple has grown to become the world's most valuable company by market cap, surpassing $5 trillion last month. However, he argued that this growth was largely due to buybacks and not necessarily driven by innovation.

During the recent AI boom, Apple underperformed Google, Amazon, Tesla, and NVIDIA, with its diversification bets outside of phones failing to gain traction. Newman pointed out that Apple's R&D spending has increased, but it still lags behind in AI leadership.

Newman believes that getting Siri right is crucial for Apple's future success in the AI era. He noted that owning the interface layer matters, and Apple still controls the surface where users meet AI.