Craig Federighi Swipes at AI Rivals Who Are 'Racing Forward' Without Regard for Users

Apple software chief Craig Federighi used the WWDC 2026 keynote to draw a pointed contrast between Apple's approach to artificial intelligence and the broader industry, suggesting that some competitors are developing AI without meaningful consideration for the people using it.

During Monday's WWDC 2026 keynote, Federighi said:

AI is incredibly powerful technology. Still, some appear to be racing forward, seemingly pursuing AI for the sake of AI, without clear regard to the people, all of us, that it's ultimately meant to serve.

The remarks appeared to be aimed squarely at rivals including OpenAI, Google, and Meta, all of which have aggressively shipped AI products and services over the past two years. Federighi argued that Apple's conservative approach is more useful because it draws on personal context.

The comments arrived alongside Apple's unveiling of Siri AI, a ground-up rebuild of its digital assistant powered by the next generation of Apple Intelligence. Federighi described the effort as "a big leap forward," with "an innovative architecture that unlocks a new Siri across platforms."

Apple said it has created a second version of its Apple Foundation Models capable of understanding speech and reading text and images, with a new system orchestrator coordinating capabilities across its platforms.

The implicit dig at competitors carries some irony given Apple's own recent history with AI. The company spent the better part of two years struggling to deliver a meaningfully improved ‌Siri‌, and earlier this year parted ways with John Giannandrea, its former head of AI and machine learning, following a prolonged restructuring of its AI teams.

Federighi pushed back against the idea that the new ‌Siri‌ is simply another "bolted-on chatbot," saying the company sees it as "an integral but conversational tool that you use in the moment." Privacy, he said, is "non-negotiable," with data used only to execute a user's request.