Why Apple’s WWDC AI Rollout Missed the Mark and Sank $750 B in Market Value

During the recent Apple WWDC, the company’s market value shrank by about $750 billion (≈ 5.4 trillion CNY) after investors learned that Siri updates would be postponed until next year.

The event highlighted three major focus areas:

Adoption of a new liquid‑glass design language, touted as the largest design update to date.

Artificial‑intelligence initiatives, including the introduction of third‑party models and new developer tools.

System‑wide updates across iOS, macOS and other operating systems aimed at improving user experience.

On the AI front, Apple announced Xcode 26 , which integrates OpenAI’s ChatGPT model directly into the IDE, allowing developers to use ChatGPT without creating a separate account and even enabling paid ChatGPT users to link their accounts for higher usage.

Apple also unveiled the Foundation Models framework, a native Swift‑compatible library that lets developers access Apple’s on‑device AI models with just a few lines of code, supporting generative AI, tool‑calling and other capabilities. The framework is currently in test‑flight and will be available through the Apple Developer Program and the Apple Beta Software Program.

System‑level AI enhancements were also announced, such as real‑time cross‑app translation, AI‑powered visual search across apps, and macOS‑iPhone integration that can create AI‑driven shortcuts for tasks like order lookup or phone calls. Notably, the new Visual Intelligence feature can identify objects in screenshots and suggest calendar events based on detected tasks.

Apple is doubling down on its UI changes while lagging in AI, according to analyst Ethan Mollick.

Analyst Guo Ming‑qi summarized the event: Apple’s AI strategy is central, but the company’s AI progress is modest; clear explanations of AI functionality and a development roadmap could help manage expectations. He also noted that Apple may seek partnerships with third‑party AI providers such as OpenAI.

Netizens mocked the slow AI rollout, creating meme videos that replace the original WWDC narration with jokes about Apple being the “last big tech company to act on AI.”