Apple's Siri AI to Skip EU Launch Over Regulatory Dispute

Apple Inc. announced on June 8 (local time) that its next-generation software, "iOS 27" and "iPadOS 27," scheduled for release later this year, will not include its latest AI assistant feature, "Siri AI," in the 27 member states of the European Union (EU) for the time being. Siri AI, which was unveiled as a flagship feature at the World Developer Conference (WWDC26) held on the same day, has led to the "provision deferral" as a result of the conflict with regulators over the EU's "Digital Markets Act (DMA)," a major IT company regulation.

Siri AI is the latest voice assistant developed using Apple Intelligence. It boasts not only voice control but also dramatically improved conversational abilities and the capacity to seamlessly access everything from local data on devices to extensive information on the web. It incorporates numerous advanced features, including a dedicated app to review conversation history, an enhanced visual intelligence experience, integrated tools for writing, and a Siri mode within the iOS camera app. Designed with user privacy as a fundamental principle, it aims to achieve both high security and convenience by leveraging direct processing on the device and "Private Cloud Computing."

The background to Siri AI's provision being blocked within the EU stems from the Digital Markets Act (DMA) enforced by the EU. The DMA is a law aimed at preventing digital market monopolization and enclosure by large IT companies (gatekeepers) and promoting fair competition. Under this law, EU regulators have strongly urged major companies like Apple and Google to prohibit preferential treatment of their own services, open their app stores to third parties, and provide "interoperability."

EU regulators demanded that if Apple were to provide Siri AI on iPhones and iPads, it must "simultaneously" grant third-party AI systems from other companies nearly unrestricted direct access to user devices and personal data. Furthermore, they demanded the immediate release of permissions for third-party AI to act autonomously without continuous user visibility or control. This includes reading and writing user messages, executing arbitrary purchases, accessing files, and performing actions across all apps.

Apple strongly opposed these demands from EU authorities, citing significant threats to user privacy and device security, and completely rejected the requirements. According to Apple and security researchers, opening up permissions to third-party AI without essential protective functions to safeguard users carries an extremely high risk of the AI systems being hijacked by malicious attackers.

If a hijacking occurs, there is a serious risk of highly sensitive personal data such as passwords and photos being stolen, or files and account settings being permanently altered without user consent. Apple has expressed strong concerns that the frequency and scale of damage from such risks will rapidly expand in the future, given the current dramatic improvements in AI system capabilities.

In an effort to break the deadlock, Apple designed a new intermediary function called "Trusted System Agent" as an alternative compromise and proposed it to EU authorities. This system acts as an intermediary to allow other companies' virtual assistants to access functions and performance equivalent to Siri AI in a safe manner, and it was a realistic plan to be deployed gradually over 18 months to verify and ensure sufficient safety. However, the European Commission rejected all safety measures proposed by Apple, including this proposal, and no agreement was reached.

As a result, general users within the EU will not be able to access the advanced features of Siri AI on iOS 27 and iPadOS 27, which will be released later this year. Additionally, due to the technical specification that pairing with an iPhone with Siri AI enabled is required for using Siri AI on the Apple Watch "watchOS 27," it will also be unavailable on watchOS 27. Furthermore, developers based in the EU will not be able to test or use the new Siri AI features for their apps on these three operating systems.

On the other hand, for other Apple products, "macOS 27" for Mac and "visionOS 27" for spatial computers are not directly affected by the DMA's regulatory requirements, so Siri AI will be provided to users in the EU as planned.

Craig Federighi, Apple's Senior Vice President of Software Engineering, stated, "We are very disappointed that users in the EU will not be able to use Siri AI on their iPhones and iPads with the new software release later this year." He added, "We want to deliver it someday and will continue to cooperate with EU regulators for progress," expressing his regret.

However, he simultaneously criticized the authorities' rigid stance, saying, "EU regulators have shown an attitude of not responding to constructive discussions for solutions that protect privacy and security." He noted that with the clear dangers present in the EU region, there is currently no prospect for the provision of Siri AI on iOS and iPadOS in Europe. Unless the deep chasm between Apple, which prioritizes user safety, and EU authorities, which pursue aggressive market openness, is bridged, the day when European iPhone users can fully enjoy the benefits of the latest AI seems distant.