Apple enhances Siri but still trails in artificial intelligence race

Apple's biggest move was to open up the talking iPhone assistant to third-party developers for inclusion in their apps, paving the way for users to hail a ride from Uber [UBER.UL] or send a message with Tencent's ( Tencent Holdings Ltd) WeChat using voice commands. Experts in artificial intelligence applauded the move as an important step forward, in part because the more people use an artificial intelligence system, the better it becomes. But some wondered why Apple had not made Siri an open platform much sooner, noting that competing products including Amazon.com's ( Amazon.com, Inc.) Alexa, Microsoft's ( Microsoft Corporation) Cortana and the Google ( Alphabet Inc) app are already open to developers. "Is it too little too late?" "Siri is five years old and still trying to learn how to play well with others."