The future of Siri is the future of the iPhone

Today we’re diving into the story that could define Apple’s next decade.
The Siri upgrade that missed its 2025 deadline now carries the weight of Apple’s entire AI strategy. We are also looking past the AI hype. Gary Marcus is back with five essays that challenge everything we assume about LLMs and what’s next.

In today’s post:

• If Siri flops in 2026, Apple’s AI story might be over

• Why Google just spent $4.75B to own power and data

• Gary Marcus just named five essays that might define AI’s future

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PROFITS

Apple has one last shot at making Siri matter

Apple was supposed to own the AI moment. Instead, it missed its biggest deadline in years and now it has one last chance to catch up.

Here’s everything you need to know:

• Apple’s AI-enhanced Siri was promised for early 2025. It never showed up.

• That delay wasn’t just embarrassing, it pushed Apple behind rivals like Google and OpenAI.

• The company now says the upgrade will launch in 2026, nearly two years after its announcement.

• Investors are banking on this rollout to trigger a long-awaited iPhone upgrade cycle.

• Only iPhone 15 Pro and newer models support Apple Intelligence so the upgrade must be worth it.

• Unlike ChatGPT, Apple’s not charging a subscription it needs hardware sales to justify the AI investment.

• If this version of Siri isn’t miles better, Apple risks losing relevance in the next computing era.

Apple rarely misses. But this time, it did and the consequences are still unfolding. The next Siri update has to be more than competitive. It has to be undeniable. Otherwise, Apple’s AI narrative might end before it even starts.

STRATEGY

Alphabet’s big AI bet is buried in Texas dirt

Alphabet’s acquisition of Intersect isn’t just about data centers. It’s a blueprint for what AI infrastructure really looks like in 2026.

Here’s everything you need to know:

• Alphabet is buying Intersect for $4.75 billion to align data center growth with its clean energy strategy.

• The move ties directly to Google’s $40 billion Texas expansion, where AI and energy needs are now inseparable.

• Intersect’s co-located power and data center in Haskell County is a model: energy and compute, designed as one system.

• Not all of Intersect is coming with the deal some assets stay independent, backed by climate-focused investors.

• Sundar Pichai says the goal is to “reimagine energy solutions” for U.S. innovation and leadership.

• For cloud and ERP leaders, this changes the game: infrastructure planning must now include power availability and grid alignment.

• Expect hyperscaler sites to become critical nodes for AI workloads not just for compute, but for reliable, green energy.

The AI era isn’t just about software scale. It’s about physical scale, steel, and gigawatts. Alphabet just made that crystal clear. If you’re not thinking about energy infrastructure, you’re not thinking seriously about AI.

RESEARCH

LLMs had their moment, now what ?

As 2026 begins, Gary Marcus is urging readers to rethink where AI is headed and what might finally replace the hype.

Here’s everything you need to know:

• His pick for 2025’s best AI cartoon? A classic Tom Fishburne piece that nails the industry’s tendency to overpromise and underdeliver.

• Marcus warns that despite the buzz, generative AI may be stalling not evolving.

• He offers five must-read essays that spotlight the cracks in today’s LLM-dominated approach.

• First, hallucinations remain unsolved, a core flaw in models like GPT.

• Apple’s recent paper revived the discussion around generalization, a long-neglected benchmark.

• Marcus argues that LLMs will never match human reasoning and pretending otherwise is a dead end.

• His solution? Shift focus to neurosymbolic systems and world models, which offer a more grounded path forward.

If Marcus is right, 2026 won’t be about who builds the biggest model, it’ll be about who builds the smartest one. And that might mean returning to ideas the industry sidelined in its rush to scale. Worth thinking about.

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