Featured Image Credit: Justin Sullivan / Staff via Getty
The EU has fired back after Apple confirmed Siri AI will not launch in Europe following the recent WWDC held in Apple Park by CEO Tim Cook.
As many gear up for the latest AI in iOS 27, including a brand-new dedicated conversational app for Siri, eager users are counting down to the release. However, for millions of iPhone and iPad users across the European Union, the wait is set to continue.
The tech giant announced that Siri 2.0 would not be available in the EU on iOS or iPadOS at launch, citing what it described as the EU's failure to find a constructive solution.
Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering, said the company was 'deeply disappointed.' He revealed that one of its proposals, a system called Trusted System Agent that's designed to allow third-party virtual assistants to safely access the same device capabilities as Siri, had been rejected outright.
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Apple's statement framed the DMA's requirements as demanding that any AI system be given 'nearly unlimited access' to a user's device.
The European Commission's account tells a different story, however. According to Reuters, Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier told reporters in Brussels that the decision not to roll out Siri AI in the EU was 'Apple's and Apple's only.'
Rather than attempting to find a workable solution, Apple had reportedly asked to be exempted from its legal obligations for 18 months.
"Apple was simply unable to develop interoperability solutions that meet essential EU privacy and security standards," Regnier told reporters in Brussels (via Reuters). "Instead of trying to find a suitable compliance solution, Apple simply made a request to the European Commission to be exempted from their interoperability obligations. That's not an option."
The Commission also clarified that there is nothing in the Digital Markets Act that prevents Apple from introducing new products in the EU, pushing back against the claim that regulation is blocking the AI rollout.
The Digital Markets Act is an EU legislation designed to limit the dominance of Big Tech, create more space for competitors, and give consumers greater choice over how they use their devices. It places specific obligations on large platform companies like Apple and Samsung regarding interoperability, requiring them to allow rival services to access certain device functions on equal terms.
Apple claims that by complying with the regulations, the company cannot maintain its expectations for user privacy and security.
Siri AI is not the only feature to be caught in the legal crossfire.
Apple confirmed that the DMA has led it to delay several other features for EU users, including iPhone Mirroring to Mac, Live Translation with AirPods, and location-based features within Maps.
The company said it hopes to eventually bring Siri AI to European users and intends to continue engaging with regulators, but has offered no timeline for when that might happen.
Greg Joswiak, Apple's marketing chief, explained: "In essence, a commission that's asking us to conduct a very risky experiment on many, many, many tens of millions of users and we only want to ship these capabilities when we can do so safely."
