Apple unveils AI Siri, but keeps it off iPhones and iPads in the EU

With the update, Siri is getting its own standalone app for the first time. Apple manager Mike Rockwell demonstrated in a pre-recorded demo how the new Siri can look up the date of a musician's next concert nearby as well as ticket-sales information, create a reminder, and then play one of her new songs on request. As an example of its personal capabilities, Apple cited the question "Wie hieß der Podcast, den mir meine Schwester neulich empfohlen hat?" This is meant to show that the assistant can respond in a context-aware way, drawing on information from apps, messages, and the user's everyday life.

What the new Siri is supposed to be able to do

Industry observers viewed the presentation as a strategic turning point. Analyst Francisco Jeronimo of market research firm IDC sees the new AI Siri as a strategic watershed for Apple: it could become the new way users interact with iPhones and future device categories from the company. Industry analyst Avi Greengart of Techsponential said: "Wenn das alles funktioniert, ist es die KI, die die Leute wollen". Software chief Craig Federighi announced that additional languages should follow "quickly."

In the European Union, however, the new AI Siri will not be offered on iPhones and iPads. The company confirmed this. The step is justified with regulatory requirements: Apple accuses the EU Commission of endangering the privacy of European users with demands for a full opening-up of its iPhones and iPads to AI assistants from other providers. The background is the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA), which obliges companies classified as gatekeepers to grant competitors the same access to their platforms that they grant to their own services.

Why Europe is being left out

Apple argues that the new AI Siri has been implemented in such a privacy-friendly way that Apple itself does not gain access to user information. The company also stresses that Google does not gain access to user data through the integration of its AI models. On Mac computers and on the Vision Pro headset, by contrast, European users will be able to use the new AI Siri, according to Apple, because the company is not classified as a "gatekeeper" in those segments.

Background: delays and a series of stumbles

Marketing chief Greg Jozwiak said Apple had explained to the Commission the risks of "truly unfettered" access to the entire operating system and all information by assistants from other providers, marketing chief Greg Jozwiak said. "Aber sie haben unsere Bedenken komplett zurückgewiesen." According to this, Apple had put forward a concrete technical proposal last year that would allow providers to answer user queries without storing data. The Commission, however, rejected it without engaging with it. According to Apple, however, this plan remains on the table.

The background to the delay is a series of stumbles for the voice assistant. Apple originally announced a Siri with similar capabilities at WWDC two years ago. But the following year, the company had to concede that the software was not reliable enough. After that, the technical foundation was rebuilt – including by using AI models from rival Google. While Apple wrestled with the Siri problems, Google, as the developer of the competing Android mobile operating system, and the great iPhone rival Samsung kept outdoing each other with announcements of ever-new AI assistant features. This does not appear to have slowed Apple economically: sales of Apple devices continued to rise, and according to market researchers' calculations, the iPhone pushed Samsung off the smartphone throne after many years.

Federighi also used the stage at the developer conference to take a swipe at competitors that implement AI features without regard to user interests. The voice assistant Siri was introduced on iPhones around 15 years ago and, with the update, is getting its own standalone app for the first time.

The market launch will be phased: developers will be the first to get access to a preview version, with the general public to follow typically in the autumn – and therefore already under new corporate leadership.

The delay in Europe is explosive because the continent is an important sales market for Apple and regulators there are increasingly pushing for the opening up of closed platforms. Should Apple permanently keep AI Siri away from iPhones and iPads in the EU, competitors with their own assistant systems could continue to gain ground in the coming months.