Apple also said that Siri AI and new Apple Intelligence features would not be available in China at all.
Citizens of the European Union and China will have to wait even longer to get their hands on Apple’s highly anticipated iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 with the new Siri. Due to some regulatory issues, Apple said it will not provide Siri AI as part of its upcoming iPhone and iPad software updates to the EU due to conflicts with the Digital Markets Act.
“Our hope is to eventually introduce Siri AI to the EU, and we will continue to collaborate with European regulators on the path forward,” Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, said in a press release. “However, their refusal to engage constructively on solutions that preserve privacy and security means that we do not currently have a timeline for the availability of Siri AI on iOS and iPadOS in the EU.”
The dispute also means that EU developers will not be able to test or use Siri AI features for their apps on beta versions of iOS or iPadOS. On top of that, Apple said the Siri AI features and its new Apple Intelligence features would also not be available in China, as they must operate “within regulatory requirements.”
According to Apple, the EU’s Digital Markets Act requires it to give any AI system “nearly unrestricted access to a user’s device,” as well as “the ability to act on that access autonomously without the user’s ongoing visibility and control.” Citing user privacy concerns, Apple said it has developed the “Trusted System Agent,” or an intermediary that would allow virtual assistants to use the same features and capabilities as Siri AI for EU devices, along with a rollout plan over the next 18 months. However, Apple said the European Commission had not accepted any of its proposals.
Apple said it would continue to try to deliver the revised version of Siri AI to EU users on iPhone and iPad, but that there was “no timetable for availability of Siri AI in the EU.” However, EU users can still enjoy the revamped Siri through macOS 27, visionOS 27, and watchOS 27.
