Alphabet Stock Slides as AI Talent Exodus and SpaceX Losses Shake Investor Confidence 
Oracle Cuts 21,000 Jobs as AI Reshapes Workforce and Cloud Expansion Accelerates 
NTSB Investigates Boston Logan Airport Near-Miss Between Delta and American Airlines Jets 
Baseten Secures $1.5 Billion Funding at $13 Billion Valuation Amid AI Infrastructure Boom 
SpaceX Stock Rebounds After Sharp Selloff, But Valuation Concerns Persist 
Today’s space race could turn fatal if we don’t agree on new rules 
SK Hynix Moves Closer to New York ADR Listing Amid AI Chip Boom 
100+ Global Companies Push Governments to Prioritize Electrification for Economic Growth 
Qualcomm Nears $4 Billion Acquisition of AI Chip Startup Modular 
Nike CFO Shake-Up Fuels Concerns Over Turnaround Strategy 
Tesla and NatPower Partner on $5 Billion Battery Storage Expansion in Europe 
California Drivers Sue BP, Walmart, 7-Eleven Over Alleged AI Gas Price Fixing 
SpaceX Stock Plunges 16% as KeyBanc Warns Valuation May Be Overstretched 
Trump’s Quantum Push Lifts IBM Stock as CEO Arvind Krishna Receives White House Praise 
Meta Pauses Employee Activity Tracking Program Over Data Security Concerns 
Apple is said to be working on changing the trigger phrase for its digital assistant on its ecosystem of hardware products. The tech giant reportedly wants to change “Hey, Siri” to simply “Siri.”
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported in the latest Power On newsletter that Apple has been working on shortening the “Hey, Siri” trigger phrase for months now. While the change essentially means just dropping one word to wake Siri, the journalist said the iPhone maker has been facing a “technical challenge” after working on it for months.
The same report noted that the simple removal of the word “Hey” in the trigger phrase would require a “significant amount of AI training,” along with vital engineering work, to teach Siri to understand the shorter wake word. Teaching the digital assistant to understand the shorter “Siri” wake word in different accents and dialects reportedly adds to the complexity of the update. But Apple has reportedly been collecting data by testing the Siri update among its employees.
Apple device owners will have to keep using the trigger phrase “Hey, Siri” for a while, though. Gurman said Apple may be able to roll out the simpler “Siri” wake word either next year or in 2024.
The company is also reportedly working on improving other aspects of Siri by further integrating the digital assistant into third-party apps and services. This means, in the future, Siri should be able to understand more commands and execute them accurately, even those for third-party apps.
While Siri is one of the most widely available digital assistants, Apple still has some catching up to do with other digital assistants in the market. And the rumored plan to shorten its trigger phrase to just “Siri” suggests Apple would take a similar approach that Amazon did for Alexa.
Google Assistant still requires the trigger phrases “OK, Google” or “Hey, Google.” But the company has improved other aspects of its digital assistant by training it to take voice commands without needing to hear wake words or trigger phrases for follow-up commands. Reports expect that shortening “Hey, Siri” to “Siri” should have some similar benefits for Apple device users.
Photo by Omid Armin on Unsplash
