Apple said on June 8 that a new artificial intelligence-powered version of Siri will not be available on iPhones and iPads in the European Union (EU) when iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 are released later this year, blaming regulatory requirements under the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA).
The company unveiled Siri AI during its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC26). While the new features will launch in many markets alongside iOS 27 and iPadOS 27, Apple said EU users will be excluded from the initial rollout on those platforms.
According to Apple, discussions with European regulators over recent months failed to produce an agreement that would allow the company to introduce Siri AI in the EU while maintaining what it describes as necessary privacy and security protections.
In a recent statement Apple said, “Siri AI is private by design and deeply integrated across Apple’s platforms using on-device processing and Private Cloud Compute, which extends the privacy and security of iPhone into the cloud. However, under EU regulators’ extreme interpretation of the DMA, Apple would have to give any virtual assistant direct access to users’ private data — and the ability to directly control other installed applications — as soon as Siri AI is made available in the EU, without the essential protections necessary to keep users and their data safe.”
Apple said it proposed a system called Trusted System Agent, which would act as an intermediary allowing virtual assistants to access device functions while preserving safeguards. The company also proposed introducing Siri AI in the EU while gradually deploying the new system over an 18-month period. Apple said none of its proposals were accepted by European regulators.
Apple also said Siri AI will not be available on watchOS 27 in the EU because the smartwatch experience depends on a paired iPhone running the new technology. However, the company said Siri AI will be available to users in the EU on macOS 27 and visionOS 27. Developers based in the bloc will also be unable to test or use Siri AI features in applications built for iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and watchOS 27.
Apple said it would continue working with regulators to bring Siri AI to the European Union, but maintained that there is currently no timetable for the feature’s release on iPhones and iPads in the bloc.