In 2024, Apple stood on a stage and showed the world a version of Siri that could understand context, act across apps, remember who you are and actually help get things done. It was one of the most compelling AI demos the company had ever presented.
Then came the delays. Then a Bloomberg report that software chief Craig Federighi voiced strong concerns that features didn't work properly in personal testing. Then a class action lawsuit alleging Apple had "saturated the internet, television and other airwaves" with features that didn't exist, according to 9to5Mac. Apple agreed this week to pay $250 million to settle those claims.
Fourteen years since Siri's debut, the world's most valuable company is still struggling to deliver an AI assistant that can reliably manage cross-app tasks or remember user preferences. Meanwhile, game developers, working with tighter budgets and players who dissect every NPC interaction, have been quietly building AI companions that do all of this and more. Here are ten of the best examples.
GLaDOS — Portal / Portal 2
GLaDOS doesn't just respond to what a player says. She tracks everything done, every mistake made and every test failed across the entire facility. Her awareness is total and persistent. She manages an entire research complex, controls environmental systems and deploys companion cubes simultaneously while maintaining commentary calibrated to exactly how badly the player is doing.
That is cross-app action, persistent memory and contextual intelligence wrapped in one villain. Apple promised Siri could handle multi-step tasks across apps, according to MacRumors. GLaDOS has been running a labyrinthine physics research station without dropping a sarcastic remark since 2007.
Cortana — Halo Series
Before Microsoft turned the real Cortana into a glorified calendar reminder, the fictional version was a masterclass in what an AI companion should feel like. She processes battlefield data in real time, identifies enemy weaknesses, overrides alien ship systems and translates unknown languages on the fly, all while managing her own existential crisis about AI mortality with genuine emotional complexity.
She is simultaneously a tactical co-pilot, a translator, a hacker and a therapist. The redesigned Siri reportedly still suffers from a bug that causes it to cut users off when they speak quickly, according to iClarified. Cortana has never done that.
POD 042 — NieR: Automata
POD 042 provides real-time enemy analysis, manages long-range weapon systems and offers navigational guidance without ever being intrusive or annoying. It speaks when necessary and stays silent when not, calibrating its communication style to the emotional temperature of the scene. That last part alone puts it ahead of every real AI assistant on the market.
Apple's redesigned Siri reportedly doesn't always process queries correctly and can take too long to respond, according to iClarified. POD 042 has shipped reliable mission support since 2017.
The Focus — Horizon Forbidden West
Aloy's Focus device scans environments in real time, identifies machines, maps weaknesses, tracks quest objectives and surfaces relevant lore — all without being asked. It is a passive intelligence layer that enhances every interaction with the world around it. Apple's vision for Siri included exactly this: a contextual layer that understands the environment and surfaces information proactively.
One of the original Apple Intelligence demos showed Siri reading an incoming flight notification and automatically suggesting next steps — a feature that was among those delayed indefinitely, according to CNBC. The Focus has been doing the equivalent in a post-apocalyptic wilderness since 2022.
VASCO — Starfield
VASCO is Starfield's utilitarian robot companion and what makes him notable is sheer consistency. He carries cargo, tracks mission states, provides navigation data and manages inventory across long expeditions without losing context, dropping tasks or needing a reset. Reliability is underrated in AI assistants and it is exactly where Siri keeps falling short.
Internal Apple testing reportedly found the redesigned Siri doesn't always process queries correctly and can take too long to respond, according to iClarified. VASCO just works — every time and across every mission.
ctOS Hacking System — Watch Dogs 2
Watch Dogs 2's ctOS system — Marcus's AI-assisted digital companion — can tap phone signals, redirect traffic systems, trigger environmental hazards and pull data profiles in real time and in sequence. It is cross-app action taken to its logical extreme. The fantasy Apple sold in 2024 was a tamer version of this: Siri reaching into apps, pulling information and acting on the user's behalf.
Apple advertised those features in product presentations, on its website and in a TV commercial before having to pull the ads after the delays, according to Bloomberg via Yahoo Tech. Watch Dogs has been doing the gameplay equivalent since 2014. Apple's version is still coming — supposedly on June 8 at WWDC. Don't hold your breath.
Siri can't: tap email, cross-check contacts and send a message without full manual dictation.
The Bottom Line
Obviously fictional AI companions have an advantage: they exist in controlled environments, serve scripted purposes and don't need to interact with the chaos of real life. No one is asking GLaDOS to reschedule a dentist appointment.
But the comparison still stings because what Apple promised Siri would become was never meant to be science fiction — it was a product roadmap. Cross-app actions, persistent personal context, proactive intelligence and reliable multi-step task execution. These were features with announced release dates, advertised on television, and backed by a $3 trillion company. Apple had to pull those ads after delaying the features, according to Bloomberg via Yahoo Tech.
Game designers have been solving adjacent versions of these problems for decades because players demand it. An NPC that forgets who you are or drops your quest breaks immersion instantly. Players leave. Reviews tank.
Apple's users have been remarkably patient. But after a $250 million lawsuit, years of delays and yet another WWDC preview on the horizon, the bar isn't innovation anymore. It's just delivery. A lot of fictional AI companions cleared that bar years ago.