Apple on Wednesday was sued in a US federal court for allegedly misrepresenting the AI capabilities of its Siri personal digital assistant.
The complaint [PDF], filed on behalf of plaintiff Peter Landsheft as a proposed class action, argues that Apple mid-2024 launched a marketing campaign for its iPhone 16 that included promises to imbue built-in digital assistant Siri with groundbreaking Apple Intelligence capabilities that, crucially, are yet to materialize.
The legal action alleges violations of the California Unfair Competition Law, the California False Advertising Law, the California Consumers Legal Remedies Act, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, and breach of contract, among other charges. FYI: Federal courts can hear class actions that concern breaches of state laws.
“Apple deceived millions of consumers into purchasing new phones they did not need based on features that do not exist, in violation of multiple false advertising and consumer protection laws,” the complaint states, arguing Apple has now acknowledged that celebrated Apple Intelligence features, including enhancements to Siri, “did not exist then and do not exist now.”
Examples of claims for future Siri features can be found in the super-corp’s press releases. Here’s an example of one Apple claim:
Apple has been jawing about the wonders of Apple Intelligence – an umbrella term for various AI services available in certain apps on Apple devices – since its Worldwide Developer Conference in 2024. CEO Tim Cook described the then-unreleased tech as “profound.”
Despite the technical innovation that has gone into Apple Private Cloud Compute, which enhances privacy for cloud-based AI models, the Apple Intelligence features deployed to date have been underwhelming. And earlier this month, Apple told Reuters and others that some AI personalization improvements planned for Siri will be delayed until 2026.
Thus, the complaint contends, Apple deceived world-plus-dog about the AI capabilities of its Phone 16, inducing people to purchase a phone they might otherwise have eschewed in favor of a competing product.
The lawsuit argues “Apple has struggled to keep up and is ‘seemingly being lapped in the AI race.’ Apple has drawn criticism for being slow to announce its AI strategy, while rivals such as Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta have pulled ahead.”
Being ahead in the AI race isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be – there’s no sign yet Apple’s rivals are making a profit from their AI expenditures.
Nonetheless, Apple’s reported shuffling of AI executives suggests corporate leaders share the lawsuit’s skepticism about Apple Intelligence. The iBiz is said to have tapped Mike Rockwell, who oversaw the flop of the iTitan’s VisionPro headset, to take over management of Siri from AI chief John Giannandrea.
Apple’s failure to deliver strong AI products prompted analyst Benedict Evans to muse whether “this is a symptom of a Windows-Vista-like drift into systemically poor execution?”
Apple did not respond to a request for comment. And Siri has no idea how to answer our questions. ®
