The European Commission responds to Apple’s criticism and distances itself with its story about Siri AI

Maybe the Apple Intelligence news convince us more or less, and maybe Siri AI still have a lot to prove when it hits devices. But there is a quite concrete reality for European users: if they have an iPhone or an iPad, they will not be able to try out one of Apple’s big bets to iOS 27 and iPadOS 27. The Cupertino company has placed the delay in the field of European regulation, but the story does not end there. What we have seen next is a direct clash between Apple and Brussels over control of AI assistants and the rules that should open them to competition.

Brussels’ response. The European Commission has not accepted that reading. According to Reuterss, his spokesman Thomas Regnier said that “the decision not to launch Siri AI in the EU is Apple’s and Apple’s alone,” adding that there is nothing in the Digital Markets Law that prevents the company from introducing new products in the European Union. The message was even more direct when explaining what Apple had asked for during the conversations: to be exempt from its interoperability obligations for at least 18 months. “That is not an option,” Regnier concluded.

What is DMA? It is likely that in recent years we have read these acronyms many times, but the DMA is better understood when a specific case appears on the table. The Digital Markets Law is a European competition law that seeks to prevent large platforms from closing access to services, applications and users. In the case of Siri AI, the debate focuses on interoperability: if Apple deploys its own artificial intelligence assistant, it must also allow third-party developers to offer alternative assistants within its ecosystem.

Apple as gatekeeper. That framing helps to understand why Brussels does not present the case as a simple calendar decision. Thomas Regnier, quoted by The New York Timesrecalled that Apple is a “gatekeeper” and that “it cannot close the market.” The company itself explains in its documentation on the DMA that the European Commission designated it as such in relation to iOS, App Store and Safari on September 5, 2023, and with iPadOS on April 29, 2024. The bottom line, therefore, is not only when Siri AI arrives, but how the ecosystem opens up to services that compete with Siri AI.

What changes for you if you are in Europe. The most visible consequence is simple: if you use an iPhone or iPad in the European Union, Siri AI will not be there when iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 arrive. Apple also leaves out watchOS 27, because the watch needs to be paired with an iPhone that has Siri AI. On Mac and Vision Pro, however, the company does plan to offer the new version of the assistant. What is left behind on mobile and tablet includes the app to review conversations, expanded Visual Intelligence, integrated writing tools and Siri mode in Camera.

The proposal that Brussels did not accept. In his statementApple says it designed Trusted System Agent, an intermediary so that other virtual assistants could securely access the same features and capabilities as Siri AI on European devices. The company assures that it also proposed a gradual deployment of that solution over 18 months while it brought Siri AI to the European Union.

The bottom of the pulse. Apple presents the delay as a consequence of the DMA and privacy and security risks that, according to the company, have not been recognized by European regulators. Brussels responds from another place: it maintains that the rule does not prevent launching new products in the European Union and that Apple has not found a solution compatible with its obligations.

Images | Apple | Pascal Bullan

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