Apple agreed to pay $250 million to settle one class action on how to market AI features ahead of the iPhone 16 launch. The Financial Times was the first to report the news.
The lawsuit alleged that Apple exaggerated the range of features that Apple Intelligence would bring, which included a significantly upgraded version of its assistant, Siri. The complaint alleges that the company created the impression that advanced AI features would be available to users sooner than they actually were. Specifically, the plaintiffs allege that Apple overstated both the readiness and functionality of these features, particularly the promised improvements to Siri, which have yet to be fully realized.
As a result, the complaint claims, people who bought the iPhone 15 or iPhone 16 believed they were paying for cutting-edge AI tools that weren’t actually available at the time of purchase. The lawsuit called it false advertising and says Apple’s marketing influenced purchase decisions based on features that were missing or delayed.
Apple did not admit wrongdoing in court, but chose to settle the case instead of continuing the trial. Under the proposed deal, eligible US customers who purchased the iPhone 15 or iPhone 16 between June 10, 2024 and March 29, 2025 could receive up to $95 per device.
Apple has been touting a more advanced version of Siri since it introduced Apple Intelligence in 2024 during WWDC. The expected updates are expected to help Siri work more like modern AI chatbots like ChatGPT or Claude. The upgraded experience is rumored to be powered by Google Gemini, though newer reports suggest that the company’s next iPhone operating system may allow users to choose from a range of major third-party language models.
The settlement arrives ahead of Apple’s annual developer conference on June 8, when the company is expected to preview an AI-enhanced version of Siri.
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