A US federal court has sued Apple, alleging that the company misled consumers about its upcoming iPhone 16 and its digital assistant Siri’s AI capabilities. The lawsuit claims that Apple promised features such as Priority Notifications and on-screen awareness, but failed to deliver them.
The complaint, filed on behalf of a proposed class of plaintiffs, accuses Apple of violating multiple consumer protection laws, including California’s Unfair Competition Law and the False Advertising Law. It argues that Apple deceived millions of consumers into buying new phones based on features that do not exist or are still in development.
Apple has acknowledged that its AI enhancements for Siri, which were touted as “groundbreaking,” never materialized. The company had previously described these capabilities as “profound” and said they would be available in time for the iPhone 16’s release. However, now Apple is delaying some of these improvements until 2026.
The lawsuit also claims that Apple is struggling to keep up with rival companies, such as Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta, which have been pushing ahead with their AI strategies. Apple has recently shuffled its AI leadership team, suggesting that corporate leaders share the same concerns about the company’s AI capabilities.
As of now, there is no evidence that Apple’s rivals are making a profit from their AI expenditures. Despite this, the lawsuit argues that Apple must be held accountable for deceiving consumers with false advertising claims.
Source: https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/21/apple_hallucinated_siri_ai_features