Apple’s Siri AI Delay in the EU: Brussels Says the Choice Is Apple’s

Apple on Monday said iPhone and iPad users in the EU will not get Siri AI when iOS 27 ships later this year, and pointed to the European Commission as the blocker. A day later, the Commission said the call is Apple’s, and Apple’s alone.

Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier told reporters in Brussels on Tuesday that Apple had failed to develop interoperability solutions that meet the EU’s privacy and security standards, and instead requested a blanket exemption from those obligations. Apple, in a June 8 newsroom post, said EU regulators did not accept any of its proposed solutions to bring Siri AI to the EU while supporting other virtual assistants. The two companies say they want a path forward. WWDC 2026, where Apple unveiled Siri AI, ended the same day as Apple’s newsroom post.

The decision not to roll out Siri AI in the EU is Apple’s and Apple’s only. Apple was simply unable to develop interoperability solutions that meet essential EU privacy and security standards. 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.

Apple’s June 8 statement and the Commission’s June 9 statement put competing accounts of the same delay on the public record. Both sides say they want a path forward; neither has named a timeline.

Regnier, in his Tuesday briefing, said Apple was simply unable to develop interoperability solutions that meet essential EU privacy and security standards. Instead, the Commission says, Apple asked to be exempted from those obligations. The exemption request, Regnier said, is not an option. Regnier’s words, in the public record, name Apple as the party that declined to comply.

Apple, in its own newsroom post on the delay, said it has engaged with EU regulators for months and that the Commission did not agree to any of its proposed solutions. Both companies say they want a path forward. Neither has named a timeline.

What Apple Actually Asked For

Apple’s newsroom post describes a workaround it calls Trusted System Agent, an intermediary that would let third-party virtual assistants safely access the same features and capabilities as Siri AI on devices in the EU. Apple said it also shared a plan to launch Siri AI in the EU while gradually rolling out that solution over an 18-month period. The European Commission said no, and did not agree to any of Apple’s other proposals, the company said.

Regnier’s account is more pointed. The Commission says Apple did not bring forward a counterproposal designed to comply with the DMA’s interoperability rules; it asked to be let off those rules altogether. Apple says the two sides were negotiating over a privacy-preserving architecture; the Commission says there was no architecture on the table, only an exemption request.

The DMA’s Interoperability Mandate

The Digital Markets Act, in force across the EU since 2024, treats Apple as a gatekeeper for iOS, the same regulatory label that forced app store and browser engine changes in earlier rounds. Under the DMA’s interoperability rule, gatekeepers of operating systems must provide, free of charge, effective interoperability with the same hardware and software features available to their own services, according to the Commission’s developer portal on DMA interoperability. Apple has been in formal specification proceedings with the Commission over what that obligation means in practice for iOS.

Apple frames that obligation in starker terms. In its June 8 statement, the company said that under the EU regulators’ extreme interpretation of the DMA’s interoperability rules, Apple would have to give any AI system nearly unlimited access to a user’s device, including the ability to read and send messages, make purchases, access files, and execute actions across any app. That is the privacy and security risk Apple cites for the delay.

The Commission, through Regnier, rejected the substance of that framing. Apple did not propose a path that met the DMA’s standards, the Commission said; it asked to be exempt from the standards. Exemption, the Commission added, is not an option.

Apple’s own statement acknowledges the broad shape of the Commission’s argument. The company says it has engaged with EU regulators for months and offered a phased compliance path. The Commission says Apple’s phased path was, on closer reading, a request to delay the interoperability obligation itself.

What EU iPhone and iPad Users Will Miss in iOS 27

When iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 ship later this year, EU users in the bloc’s 27 EU member states will be locked out of the rebuilt Siri and the features that ship with it. Apple’s newsroom post lists the lost capabilities in detail.

• The new dedicated app for revisiting and starting conversations
• An expanded Visual Intelligence experience
• Integrated tools for writing
• Siri mode in Camera on iOS
• Other Siri AI capabilities announced at WWDC26

Watch owners in the EU are also out of luck. Because Siri AI on watchOS 27 requires a paired iPhone running Siri AI, EU users will not have access to Siri AI on watchOS 27. Mac and Apple Vision Pro users in the EU, by contrast, will get Siri AI on macOS 27 and visionOS 27. Apple is also withholding Siri AI from China, citing the need to work through that country’s regulatory requirements.

For a fuller look at what Siri AI does, the Siri features in iOS 27 rundown covers personal context, onscreen awareness, and the chatbot mode running on a Google Gemini model.

The Knock-On Effect for EU Developers

The freeze is not only a consumer issue. Apple’s newsroom post says developers located in the EU will not be able to test or use the new Siri AI features for their apps on iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and watchOS 27, even before the public release. The Commission’s developer framing, on the other hand, treats interoperability as a tool to give third parties access to features like Siri so that competing products can be built in the first place.

The practical effect is that EU-based app makers will be building on an iOS without the rebuilt Siri until Apple and the Commission find a path forward. Apple did not name a timeline. The Commission, through Regnier, did not name one either. Until one is named, EU developers are developing on a Siri-less platform even as their US counterparts get the new tools.

Apple’s Privacy Argument and the EU’s Rebuttal

Apple’s central argument is privacy. In its June 8 statement, the company said security researchers have already shown that AI systems can be hijacked to steal personal data like passwords and photos, and to permanently alter files and account settings without a user’s consent. Apple’s proposed fix, the Trusted System Agent, is the company’s answer to that risk.

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. Our hope is to eventually bring Siri AI to the EU, and we will continue to engage with EU regulators on a path forward. However, their refusal to engage constructively on solutions that preserve privacy and security means we do not currently have a timeline for Siri AI’s availability on iOS and iPadOS in the EU.

Federighi’s statement makes Apple’s case in the strongest terms. The Commission’s response makes a different case: that Apple’s framing rests on a premise the Commission says is false, namely that the DMA forces Apple to hand third-party AI systems the keys to the device. Regnier’s words put the failure to comply on Apple, not on the regulator.

The Commission has not contested Apple’s account of the 18-month rollout plan as such. It has contested the framing that the delay is regulator-driven. Trusted System Agent, on Apple’s own description, is a solution to a problem Apple says the DMA creates. The Commission says Apple’s 18-month phased plan was a way to delay the interoperability obligation rather than meet it.

Where the Two Sides Stand

Apple has not moved off its no timeline position. Federighi said the company will keep engaging with EU regulators, but offered no date for Siri AI’s return to iOS or iPadOS in the EU. The Commission, for its part, has not softened the “That’s not an option” line on a blanket exemption.

Mac and Apple Vision Pro users in the EU will still get Siri AI on macOS 27 and visionOS 27, a partial carve-out that the Commission did not address in Tuesday’s briefing. That carve-out leaves the door open for some EU users to use the feature, but does not resolve the underlying interoperability fight for iPhone and iPad. The Commission and Apple have not agreed on what interoperability for AI systems means, and the older Siri remains the only Siri available to EU iPhone and iPad users until they do.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is Apple not launching Siri AI in the EU?

Apple announced on June 8, 2026, that Siri AI would not be available in the EU on iOS 27 or iPadOS 27, citing the Digital Markets Act. The European Commission, through spokesperson Thomas Regnier, said the decision is Apple’s, not Brussels’s, and that Apple asked for a blanket exemption from its DMA interoperability obligations.

What is the Digital Markets Act and how does it apply here?

The DMA, in force since 2024, regulates large tech platforms designated as ‘gatekeepers.’ For Apple, the law requires free, effective interoperability with the same hardware and software features available to Apple’s own services. Apple has been in formal specification proceedings with the Commission to define the specifics for iOS.

What did Apple propose to the European Commission?

Apple designed a workaround it calls Trusted System Agent, an intermediary that would let third-party virtual assistants access the same features as Siri AI on EU devices, and proposed an 18-month gradual rollout. The Commission says the question never came up in that form, because Apple asked to be exempted from its interoperability obligations.

Will EU iPhone and iPad users ever get Siri AI?

Apple says there is no current timeline for Siri AI on iOS or iPadOS in the EU, and the European Commission did not announce a path forward in Tuesday’s briefing. EU users can still get Siri AI on macOS 27 and visionOS 27. WatchOS 27 is also blocked in the EU because Siri AI on the watch requires a paired iPhone with Siri AI.

Can EU users access Siri AI on Mac or other Apple devices?

Yes. Apple said in its June 8 newsroom post that Siri AI will be available to EU users on macOS 27 and visionOS 27, while EU developers cannot test or use the new Siri AI features for their apps on iOS 27, iPadOS 27, or watchOS 27.