Apple’s AI ambitions took a hit after the company revealed it is delaying an update to its Siri assistant, which was reportedly due to rollout next month.

The company stated the boosted features, first teased in June 2024 and designed to allow Siri to tap into users’ personal information and have more control of apps, has now been delayed, with a release planned sometime “in the coming year”.

Bloomberg reported the update had originally been planned for the upcoming iOS 18.4 software, due to be released in April.

In its statement, Apple explained it has been working on a more personalised Siri to give it more awareness of personal content as well as the ability” to take action for you within and across your apps”.

“It’s going to take us longer than we thought to deliver on these features,” it added.

When the company unveiled the new features last year, it said its Apple Intelligence offering would enable users to perform a number of tasks on its devices, including the ability to rewrite emails and declutter inboxes. On Siri, the iPhone maker said it would give the assistant the ability to perform actions and complete tasks on apps by tapping into personal information.

For example, a user could also ask Siri to pull up flight information from a travel app, or receive podcast recommendations.

Indeed, Apple is embroiled in a battle with rival device makers, such as Samsung, Google and Amazon, to provide the most-advanced AI platforms. Google and Samsung have tapped into the former’s Gemini model, while Amazon recently overhauled its Alexa offering.