EU Rejects Apple’s Bid for DMA Exemption as Siri AI Rollout Stalls in Europe
EU Rejects Apple’s Bid for DMA Exemption as Siri AI Rollout Stalls in Europe
The European Commission has rejected Apple’s request for an 18-month exemption from its Digital Markets Act obligations, directly contradicting the iPhone maker’s claim that EU regulations are responsible for blocking the rollout of its upgraded Siri AI across the bloc.
Apple announced on Tuesday that its enhanced Siri AI would not be available on iPhones or iPads in the European Union at launch, citing the Commission’s refusal to engage constructively on privacy and security concerns. The Commission swiftly pushed back, placing the blame squarely on Apple.
“The decision not to roll out Siri AI in the EU is Apple’s and Apple’s only,” Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier told reporters in Brussels. “There is nothing in the Digital Markets Act to stop the company from introducing new products in the EU.”
A Compliance Failure, Not a Regulatory Roadblock
Regnier was unsparing in his assessment of Apple’s position. “Apple was simply unable to develop interoperability solutions that meet essential EU privacy and security standards,” he said, adding that the company had sought a blanket exemption from its DMA interoperability obligations rather than pursuing a workable compliance solution.
Apple had proposed introducing an intermediary over an 18-month period to allow third-party virtual assistants to access Siri AI securely. That request was turned down. The company says it first detailed its plans to EU regulators six months ago, alongside a technical proposal for secure third-party data access.
Apple executives, speaking at a briefing at the company’s Cupertino, California headquarters, argued that AI assistants would have unprecedented access to vast quantities of personal data — including virtually all user communications — and that deploying such capabilities without adequate safeguards posed unacceptable risks.
“A commission that’s asking us to conduct a very risky experiment on many, many, many tens of millions of users,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s marketing chief. “We only want to ship these capabilities when we can do so safely.”
Broader EU Feature Delays and Financial Stakes
Apple said the DMA has forced it to delay several other features in the EU beyond Siri AI, including iPhone mirroring to Mac, live translation via AirPods, and location-based features in Maps.
The financial exposure is significant. Europe accounted for nearly 27 per cent of Apple’s total sales in its last fiscal year, though the company does not disclose EU-specific revenue figures.
The DMA — designed to curb Big Tech dominance, expand competition, and widen consumer choice — carries penalties of up to 10 per cent of a company’s global annual turnover for breaches. For Apple, that figure would run into the tens of billions of dollars.
The standoff underscores a deepening tension between Silicon Valley’s AI ambitions and Brussels’ regulatory architecture — one with no easy resolution in sight.
