Apple's AI Offensive at WWDC: Siri Is Reinvented, Europe Left Out

Siri Becomes an App

Artificial intelligence stood at the center of this year's keynote. Apple presented a voice assistant developed from scratch, which carries the simple suffix "AI" and will in future be accessible as a standalone app, via the search function on the home screen, and within apps such as Photos. "Wir haben Siri von Grund auf verändert," said Mike Rockwell, who heads the AI division at Apple. "Siri ist jetzt ein richtig leistungsfähiger Assistent."

In functional terms, this means: Siri AI is intended to incorporate the personal context of its users, understand on-screen content, and execute actions across app boundaries. In a recorded demonstration, Rockwell showed how the new Siri looks up the date of an artist's next nearby concert along with ticket information, sets a reminder, and plays a song on request. Creating calendar entries in natural language or suggesting a reminder when a chat message arrives are also part of the feature set.

Google as the AI Engine Behind the Scenes

Under the hood, Apple is drawing on Google's "Gemini" AI models for some of the new functions. Google and Apple had announced a multi-year collaboration in January, under which Gemini forms the foundation for Apple's AI systems. The financial details are not public; according to the report, it is only clear that Apple will pay "large sums" to its direct competitor Google over the coming years. For compute-intensive tasks that the device cannot handle alone, Apple's "Private Cloud Compute" technology is to be used, in which, according to Apple, neither the company nor Google can see the data.

Apple wants to achieve differentiation primarily through privacy and personalization. "Heute versprechen viele KI-Anbieter Datenschutz, aber in den Standardeinstellungen der Chatbots werden Ihre persönlichen Interaktionen gespeichert," said software chief Craig Federighi. "Andere preschen mit KI zurzeit nach vorne ohne Rücksicht auf Datenschutz." Apple stressed repeatedly that requests would be processed primarily on-device; only the most necessary data would be sent to the cloud, nothing would be stored, and no one — not even Apple — would have access. Users, Federighi said, have "absolute Kontrolle über Ihre Informationen zu jedem Zeitpunkt." The company will "nie Werbung auf Basis von KI-Anfragen" run.

Markets and Analysts React Cautiously

The market reaction was muted. Apple shares lost nearly two percent after the announcement. "Mein erster Reflex – und ich denke, der Grund, warum die Aktie fiel – war: Es hakt eine Box ab, aber es bleibt uninspirierend," said Daniel Newman, CEO of the Futurum Group. Other observers were more positive. "Es sieht nach einem ziemlich großen Upgrade aus," said Ben Bajarin, CEO of analyst firm Creative Strategies. "Jetzt müssen wir einfach sehen, wie es tatsächlich funktioniert." Francisco Jeronimo of IDC said: "Wenn Apple KI für Mainstream-Nutzer natürlich, privat und nützlich machen kann, wird das nicht nur das eigene Ökosystem stärken. Es könnte neu definieren, was Konsumenten von jedem Gerät erwarten, das sie nutzen."

Europe Left Out

A central limitation concerns Europe. When iOS 27 launches in the fall, Siri AI will initially not be available in Germany and the remaining 26 EU member states. Nor will any form of Apple AI be offered in China, Apple's third-largest market by revenue. Apple cited regulatory hurdles as the reason. "Aus regulatorischen Gründen" the company cannot bring the product to Europe at this time, Craig Federighi said. Specifically, Apple pointed to EU competition law: the European Commission has classified iOS and iPadOS as "gatekeeper" services and thus subjected them to stricter competition rules; macOS is not affected. Apple argues that treating all AI assistants equally would mean that all other AI systems would gain access to private messages, calendar entries, and emails — endangering data protection.

The software chief was unequivocal: Apple is "tief enttäuscht" that "unsere User in der EU" have no access to Siri AI, Federighi said. Apple had submitted proposals for how Siri AI could be introduced in the EU while also securely supporting other virtual assistants; the EU regulators had, however, accepted none of these proposals. The EU rejected this characterization and, according to reports, criticized a "Weigerung, konstruktiv an Lösungen zum Schutz der Privatsphäre und Sicherheit zu arbeiten." Switzerland is not affected by the EU block.

The market opportunities for Apple remain considerable nonetheless. Europe is Apple's second-largest market by revenue after the Americas. Industry observers view the U.S. market launch — initially only in English — as a trial run. Additional languages are to follow "schnell," Federighi announced. However, for many new AI functions including the new Siri, an iPhone 15 Pro or newer is required, as only these devices contain Apple's latest AI chips.

Child Safety, Design, and Other Announcements

Alongside the AI offensive, Apple announced new child safety features, including the ability to more strictly limit websites, app downloads, communications, and screen time. The translucent control elements of the current "Liquid Glass" design will also become more customizable following readability criticism. Apple's Safari browser is to use AI to group open tabs by topic; in the Photos app, people can be moved, with AI filling in the resulting gaps. In Apple's Home app, AI will in future be able to analyze and describe the video content of connected security cameras.

A Troubled Backstory

The delays of the past weigh on the company. Apple had already announced AI functions for Siri in 2024 under the "Apple Intelligence" label, which have not yet been delivered because, according to Apple, they did not work reliably enough. At the end of 2025, the company acknowledged that the planned AI functions were taking significantly longer than expected and that the launch would be pushed back to 2026. In connection with a consumer settlement relating to unfulfilled Apple Intelligence and Siri promises, Apple recently paid 250 million US dollars — one of the largest settlements in the company's history.

Outlook Under New Leadership

Cook himself drew a personal balance at the end of the keynote. "Ein paar meiner größten Highlights als Firmenchef waren Events wie diese," he said, visibly moved. To close, he offered a forward look: "The best is still ahead," "Das Beste liegt noch vor uns." Tim Cook, who has led the company for 15 years and under whose tenure the share price rose by approximately 2,000 percent on a split-adjusted basis, had honored Ternus in April in a letter to staff as someone with "the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator, and the heart to lead with integrity and honor."

From September, Ternus will set the company's direction and is expected to present the annual new iPhone in the fall. His predecessor Cook was able to oversee the launch of a number of products during his tenure — including Apple Pay, Apple Music, and Apple News+ — and to technologically reposition the company with its own chip family for Mac and iPhone. Industry observers expect that the designated CEO will continue the AI course that has been set, while — more so than Cook — placing greater emphasis on operational efficiency and the strict separation of hardware and software.

Meanwhile, the open question remains whether the new Siri AI can meet the expectations placed in it outside the United States — and whether Apple and the EU will nonetheless find a regulatory solution in the coming months. Observers also view the go-it-alone approach in the U.S. as a risk: should the AI prove to have weaknesses in practice, for example in handling personal data, Apple would not be exposed in its most important export market for the time being. Should it convince, however, pressure on Brussels is likely to grow to accept Apple's conception of a "sicheren Gleichbehandlung" of other assistants.

What is certain: on Monday, Apple made a new attempt to bring AI into the everyday lives of its device users on a large scale. With a mix of in-house development, Google technology behind the scenes, and the promise of maximum privacy, the company wants to catch up with competitors such as OpenAI and Anthropic. The fact that, in the process, the company has a foot in the door in its home market while initially being left out in Europe is perhaps the most consequential limitation of an otherwise broadly conceived announcement.