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The European Union and Apple are still trying to resolve their dispute over Siri AI after the tech giant announced in June that the upgraded assistant wouldn’t launch in the bloc with iOS 27 and iPadOS 27.
On Wednesday, Reuters reported that European technology chief Henna Virkkunen held “constructive” talks with Apple CEO Tim Cook this week. Those talks follow the two sides clashing over the rollout.
Apple says the Digital Markets Act is preventing it from bringing Siri AI to iPhone and iPad users in the EU with iOS 27 and iPadOS 27. For its part, the European Commission blames Apple for not developing an interoperability plan that meets the law’s requirements. Apple Watch owners will also be affected because Siri AI on watchOS 27 requires a paired iPhone with Siri AI.
The disagreement puts Apple’s AI rollout smack dab in the middle of the bigger platform fight that has already hit the App Store, browser choice, mobile payments, and access to iPhone and iPad features in Europe.
Apple Blames the DMA for Blocking Siri AI
From Apple’s perspective, the dispute isn’t about compliance, it’s about privacy and security. The company describes Siri as being “private by design” and says it uses “on-device processing and Private Cloud Compute, which extends the privacy and security of iPhone into the cloud.”
The company argues that under the EU’s reading of the DMA, it would be required to grant other virtual assistants similar access to sensitive device context as well as app-level controls, without adequate safeguards to keep that data secure.
According to Apple, that access could include reading and sending messages, making purchases, opening files, and executing actions across apps.
Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering, Craig Federighi, said the company was “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.”
He went on to say that Apple doesn’t currently have a timeline for the availability of Siri AI on iOS and iPadOS in the EU.
Apple’s privacy argument carries more weight this time, since we’re talking about an AI assistant, rather than app distribution or browser choice. Those battles were mostly important to Apple’s bottom line. By contrast, an AI assistant is more useful to the end user if can dig deeply into messages, calendars, files, apps, photos, and device settings.
The Commission Calls the Delay Apple’s Choice
The European Commission isn’t buying Apple’s arguments. In its EU citizens Q&A about the DMA, the Commission said Apple made a “conscious decision” not to release Siri AI in the EU and adds that “Nothing in the DMA prohibits Apple” from introducing new products and services in the bloc.
Brussels says Apple is free to launch Siri AI, but it must comply with the law. That means giving third parties access to equivalent features when Apple gives that access to its own products, including Siri, subject to user consent.
From the Commission’s perspective, the dispute is a competition issue, while Apple sees the DMA as a threat to privacy and security. The EU views Apple’s response as yet another attempt by the tech giant to use its control over iOS to decide which services can compete on its platform.
According to the Commission, the DMA is designed to stop gatekeepers from using their entrenched control over operating systems to favor their own interests. As it says in the Q&A, “it is not for Apple to decide who gets to innovate” or to choose which AI tools EU citizens get to use.
Siri AI Extends Apple’s Interoperability Fight
The Siri showdown is the latest front in the EU’s push to force more interoperability on Apple’s platforms.
In March 2025, the Commission adopted two DMA decisions that spelled out the steps Apple must take to improve access to iOS features for third-party connected devices. Those decisions also required Apple to create a clearer process for developers requesting interoperability with iPhone and iPad features.
That earlier fight made a lot of sense from a hardware perspective. A smartwatch maker, headphone company, or TV manufacturer wants better access to iPhone features. At the same time, Apple claims it wants to protect the experience and security of its operating system, while regulators want competitors to have a fair chance.
The Commission’s March decision specifically cited connected devices such as smartwatches, headphones, and TVs, as well as access to iPhone features including notifications, pairing, and faster data transfers.
Things get muddier with Siri AI because the assistant isn’t just another connected device or app. If it works the way Apple wants it to, users won’t just open apps themselves. They’ll ask Siri to find information, pull information from files, send messages, make purchases, change settings, and move between apps for them.
And that’s the bigger platform question behind the Siri fight. Researchers Friso Bostoen and Jan Krämer argued in the Journal of Competition Law & Economics that AI agents could challenge today’s gatekeepers, but also become new ones. They also found the DMA may be “surprisingly future-proof” for agentic AI because mobile operating systems are already covered, and virtual assistants can fit into the law’s framework.
EU Users Become the Test Case for Personal AI
EU iPhone and iPad users are now the first test case for what happens when personal AI goes up against platform regulation. They won’t get Siri AI on iOS 27 or iPadOS 27 at launch, and Apple hasn’t given them any indication of when they can expect to receive the update.
Without access to user information, personal AI can’t do all that much. The assistant can’t schedule an appointment, summarize a message, retrieve a file, or take actions on a device if it doesn’t have enough context to understand the task.
However, that need for deep access to a device can also empower the company that controls the operating system to the detriment of its competitors. Apple wants to preserve the iPhone as a walled garden. The EU wants to rein in Apple’s control before that wall becomes a moat around the next generation of AI assistants.
The Siri AI delay isn’t just another case of an Apple feature arriving late. It’s starting to look like the next platform fight may not be about where users download apps. Instead, it may focus on which AI assistant gets to act across those apps once they’re installed.
