Apple announced in June 2026 that its new AI-powered Siri will not launch on iPhones and iPads in the European Union, citing the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) as the reason. The company made the disclosure during its WWDC 2026 keynote and followed up with a blog post titled “Due to DMA, Siri AI delayed in EU for iOS 27 and iPadOS 27.” Apple stated there is currently no timeline for the feature’s EU availability.
The DMA is a competition law designed to prevent large tech companies from acting as gatekeepers on their platforms. Among its requirements is that Apple give rival AI companies — such as OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic — comparable access to Apple systems as Apple itself enjoys. For an assistant designed to access apps, personal information, photos, messages, and videos, Apple says that level of access poses unacceptable privacy and security risks to its customers.
Apple proposed an intermediary solution called the Trusted System Agent and said it would need 18 months to implement it on a rolling basis. The European Commission rejected this and other Apple proposals. Commission spokesperson Ricardo Cardoso told The Verge that “nothing in the DMA prohibits Apple from introducing new products and services in the EU” and that “Apple did not develop proposals for DMA compliant interoperability solutions.”
Critics are skeptical of Apple’s position. Jan Penfrat of European Digital Rights called Apple’s moves “a lobbying tactic.” Professor Michael Veale of University College London noted that Apple is willing to give its own Siri AI broad access across apps, but argues the same access is too dangerous for competitors — a distinction he compared to a Jenga tower dependent on Apple’s vertical control. Professor Friso Bostoen of Tilburg University also questioned why Apple needed 18 months for a requirement that was predictable well in advance.
The standoff leaves millions of EU iPhone users without access to a feature available elsewhere. Apple also confirmed Siri AI will not launch in China, citing regulatory challenges there, though that disclosure appeared only as a one-sentence footnote. How the EU and Apple resolve the impasse — if at all — remains unclear.
Source: The Verge