Apple beats sales and profit expectations but AI costs weigh on holiday sales

During its November earnings call, Apple CEO John Ternus reiterated that Siri manages over 2.5 billion daily requests, a figure first disclosed by Lilian Rincon, Apple's vice president of product marketing for artificial intelligence, at the September 9 iPhone event. The revised number exceeds the 1.5 billion voice requests Siri handled daily reported by Apple during WWDC 2024, though it remains unclear if the two metrics quantify the same interactions.

Apple's 2024 figure included voice requests, while the newer 2.5 billion daily Siri requests figure does not specify what constitutes the additional interactions. The lack of a consistent definition makes it challenging to gauge the actual growth in Siri usage. Apple has been gradually rolling out its Siri AI overhaul, introduced in September with iOS 27.

The redesigned assistant leverages Apple Intelligence to comprehend personal context, tackle more complex queries, and execute actions across applications. It can also retrieve information from messages, emails, and photos, eliminating the need for users to remember where they saved something or which conversation contained a specific detail.

However, the new features are not yet accessible to everyone; Siri AI is in beta, and eligible users must join a waitlist. Some server-based AI models have daily usage limits, with broader access anticipated to require a payment. As of October 26, Siri AI now supports French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish in addition to English, though regional restrictions persist.

The 2.5 billion daily requests encompass traditional Siri interactions like setting alarms, sending messages, and managing smart-home devices. Apple has not disclosed how many users are engaging with the new AI features or what proportion of daily requests they constitute.