Apple has settled a lawsuit accusing the company of misleading users around its Apple Intelligence features. The Cupertino-based tech giant has also agreed to pay $250 million as part of a settlement in the class action lawsuit filed in a federal California court last year.
The company had come under fire for its promised Apple Intelligence features, especially a revamped Siri update that it promised back in 2024 but never arrived.
The complaints accuse Apple of promoting “AI capabilities that did not exist at the time, do not exist now, and will not exist for two or more years” in an effort to boost iPhone sales, as per an AFP report.
Meanwhile, a BBC report notes that Apple will pay between $25 to $95 to its buyers in the US who purchased the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 between June 2024 and March 2025.
The $250 million settlement, which is yet to be approved by the judge, could be the largest by a tech company. However, Apple has not admitted any guilt in the matter.
In a statement to Reuters, the company said, "Apple has reached a settlement to resolve claims related to the availability of two additional features. We resolved this matter to stay focused on doing what we do best, delivering the most innovative products and services to our users."
The revamped Siri update has been a sticky issue for Apple for a few years now. The company had planned to roll out the new update along with other Apple Intelligence features in iOS 18, but there have been numerous delays since then along with a spate of exits in the team working on these features.
Ultimately, Apple decided to partner with Google to have its Gemini AI act as the brains behind its voice assistant. Even then, the company could not release the new update even with the iOS 26.4 update, as was initially reported.
Latest rumours suggest that the company could once again unveil the new Siri capabilities along with other features at its WWDC conference in June this year. The feature could ultimately end up arriving when the new iPhones launch in September.
However, the company is also said to be now working on turning Siri into a traditional chatbot with a standalone app that has access to the user's past conversations and the ability to take multi-modal inputs like images and documents.
