IOS 27 Siri AI Features Blocked in Europe Over DMA Rules
What You Need to Know
- Tim Cook met with EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen to discuss Apple’s withheld Siri AI features from European users.
- Apple blames Digital Markets Act requirements for privacy tradeoffs; EU Commission says Apple chose not to comply with competition standards.
- Apple risks significant fines if found violating DMA obligations through selective Siri AI rollout decisions in other markets.
- Both sides described the meeting as constructive despite public disagreement over responsibility for the feature delay.
Tim Cook joined a video call with EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen to discuss why Apple’s rebuilt Siri features won’t reach European users later this year. The meeting came shortly after Apple confirmed at its recent software event that iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 would ship without the new voice assistant for European customers.
The public blame game between the two sides is the more revealing detail here. Apple points to the Digital Markets Act, arguing its requirements force tradeoffs that would compromise user privacy. The European Commission pushed back directly, with a spokesperson stating the decision to withhold the features belongs to Apple alone, and that the company simply failed to build systems meeting the legal standards for fair competition.
That disagreement matters because it shapes who has to move. If Apple’s framing holds, regulators need to soften their rules. If the Commission’s version is accurate, Apple needs to redesign how its AI architecture handles data and interoperability, which is a much heavier lift.
What both sides actually want from these talks
Despite the public friction, both parties described the virtual meeting as constructive, with a spokesperson confirming the conversation centered on shared interests. For Apple, the stakes are financial as much as strategic: the geographic block on Siri AI carries the risk of significant fines if the company is found to be violating DMA obligations through its rollout decisions elsewhere.
Cook’s personal involvement signals how seriously Apple is treating the situation. The company is trying to land its largest software update in years across every major market, and Europe remains an open question. As Siri’s AI capabilities deepen with each release cycle, the cost of leaving a major region behind only grows, both in revenue and in the coherence of Apple’s broader AI story.
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