Siri AI is trapped in Apple's escalating cold war with the EU

Regulators in the EU have returned fire at Apple, claiming the tech giant had ample time to meet DMA compliance requirements, while Apple claims the EU refused to negotiate at all.

Allegedly, instead of working with the EU, Apple applied for an 18-month exemption from the current Digital Markets Act (DMA) requirements. The EU, unsurprisingly, had rejected the exemption.

So, Apple simply chose to not introduce Siri AI in the EU. And then the company took it a step further and instead blamed regulators.

"The decision not to roll out Siri AI in the EU is Apple's and Apple's only," EU spokesperson Thomas Regnier told reporters, according to Reuters.

Allegedly, there was nothing in the Digital Markets Act that prevented the company from introducing new products in the EU. Of course, those new products would need to meet DMA requirements.

"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 under the DMA - and this for at least 18 months," Regnier said. "That's not an option."

Specifically, the company would be required to grant rivals access to Siri AI, and everything that goes along with it. Apple, for its part, sees this as completely unreasonable.

Apple's logic is that Siri AI, which is capable of agentic action, is too deeply ingrained in a user's device. By giving rivals access, they could go so far as to read users' messages, edit files, delete content, and take actions without users' knowledge or consent.

Apple's Greg Joswiak has said the company attempted to work with the EU, but claimed that regulators refused to negotiate with Apple at all. Of course, the EU claims that Apple only asked for an 18-month extension.

Ultimately, it's nigh impossible to figure out which of the two parties is telling the truth. Both would like it if Siri AI came to the EU, but neither is willing to budge on what it would take to make that happen.

We expect the finger-pointing and spin to continue for some time on this matter.