Apple’s Siri AI stand-off with Europe just escalated
“We’re deeply disappointed that our EU users won’t have Siri AI on iPhone or iPad when we share our new software releases later this year,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering. He was announcing that due to Europe’s evangelically policed Digital Markets Act European customers and developers can’t use Siri AI.
Brussels denies responsibility
Stung by Apple’s criticism, the European Commission has denied responsibility for Apple’s decision. “The decision not to roll out Siri AI in the EU is Apple’s and Apple’s only,” spokesperson Thomas Regnier told Reuters.
“Apple was simply unable to develop interoperability solutions that meet essential EU privacy and security standards,” Regnier said.
“Instead of trying to find a suitable compliance solution, Apple simply made a request to the European Commission to be exempted from their interoperability obligations. That’s not an option.”
It wasn’t an option because in the view of the commissioners, it would deny other AI agents an equal chance to be chosen by iPhone users. Other AI agents would not “have an equal chance to be chosen by iPhone users,” he said.
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Apple’s story is different
Apple, at least seemingly, denies that it failed to find a compliance solution. During his WWDC keynote, Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering explained that Apple did propose a solution called Trusted System Agent.
This was described as a privacy-preserving intermediary that would let other virtual assistants safely access the same capabilities as Siri AI while preserving user privacy. This, of course, wasn’t good enough for the EU.
“Apple will continue working to bring these features to the European Union as safely as possible,” he said. “However, given the clear dangers to EU users and the regulators’ failure to acknowledge these risks, there is currently no timeline for Siri AI’s availability in the EU on iOS and iPadOS.”
It looks likely we’ll be waiting for some time before any new détente between Europe’s power-crazed regulators and Apple. “EU law is non-negotiable,” Regnier said. “The Commission won’t give any exemption, just like a police officer would not exempt a driver from respecting the speed limit.”
Denying innovation
The problem is that while speeding is a threat to life, forcing Apple to give competitors untrammelled access to the most deeply private information of iOS users threatens life, liberty– and fundamentally flies against Europe’s own privacy regulations.
After all, merely because iOS can access your personal data does not mean a user wants Meta, Palantir, or any of the other AI competitors currently building vast collections of personal information enjoying the same access.
This is far from the first time Apple has railed against Europe.
Only last year, Apple Vice President Kyle Andeer said, “The Commission has consistently taken positions under the DMA that undercut Apple’s ability to protect its users,” the company said.
“For decades, Apple has been meeting the challenges of an ever-evolving threat landscape by constantly innovating to keep our users safe from harm. Our efforts have made iOS the most secure mobile platform,” the company, quite justifiably, explains.
“The Commission has forced Apple to change that successful approach — while simultaneously refusing to allow it to implement proven safeguards that have helped ensure that iOS users are better protected from malicious actors than users of any other [approach]. Without those protections, risks to users on our devices will inevitably increase.”
Which appears to be fine in the EU, which thinks it’s regulating traffic offences but is in fact interfering in product design with a hammer.
One more thing
“It’s disappointing (though not surprising) to see these announcements come with an asterisk in Europe… users in the bloc won’t yet get the full AI experience on iPhone or iPad thanks to the ongoing standoff with regulators,” said Hexnode’s Apu Pavithran.
This may have a significant impact on Apple’s customers. “In theory, we may see admins having to govern two meaningfully different device experiences depending on where the users are based. I can see UEM tools becoming even more important in filling this likely gap.”
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