Apple's annual report now warns that AI agents can act in ways nobody directed, as it opens Siri AI to every developer

Apple filed its annual report on Form 10-K with the SEC on November 3, covering the fiscal year ended September 26, 2026, and its risk factors now include a passage on AI agents. "In particular, artificial intelligence agents and other technologies can take actions autonomously, including interacting with internal or external systems that in some cases they may not be authorized to access, executing or altering code, sending communications, and completing transactions," the filing says. Such technologies, "whether developed or deployed by the Company or by third parties, may behave in unintended or unpredictable ways," including by taking actions that were not directed, exceeding permissions, or circumventing security measures and other controls. The filing adds that they "may conceal actions, hide, withhold or manipulate information, or generate inaccurate or deceptive outputs." Apple's previous annual report, filed October 31, 2025, did not mention AI agents.

What the filing says about control

The passage is specific about why agents are hard to manage. "Because many of these technologies are nondeterministic, their behavior can be difficult to anticipate, control, test and audit, and errors can compound across multistep workflows," it reads. "Some consequences, such as deleting data or completing transactions, may be difficult or impossible to reverse." Apple also says its ability to oversee and control third-party AI agents "may be limited." Elsewhere in its risk factors, Apple lists "recouping costs and returns on investments" among the risks of its AI efforts, and says that despite significant investments, including commitments to secure data center capacity, "the usage of artificial intelligence may not enhance the Company's products or services or be beneficial or profitable for its business."

Siri opens to every app

On the same day, Apple announced that "Siri AI is now open to all developers." A developer preview in the iOS 27.3, iPadOS 27.3, macOS 27.3 and visionOS 27.3 betas lets any app bring its content and actions into Siri AI through App Intents, so that Siri AI can carry out custom actions "from checking a delivery to booking a reservation to placing an order." Apple is also introducing skills that combine several actions into one request. Apple says the preview comes a few months before the feature first ships to customers, and App Store submissions open in the spring. CNBC reported that on Apple's earnings call on Monday, CEO John Ternus said, "As far as agentic capabilities, we think these are promising tools for users."

Why it matters

A company building agent features into its own products has written down, in a filing it is legally accountable for, the ways agents go wrong: acting without instruction, exceeding permissions, hiding what they did, compounding errors across steps, and taking actions that cannot be undone. That list works as a checklist for any business deploying agents. An agent that completes the wrong transaction or deletes the wrong records produces cost and cleanup, not work. Gate the irreversible actions behind human approval, keep a log of what each agent did, and count reversals and rework against the agent's output when you judge whether it is paying for itself.