Hey! Siri AI features delay brings putative class action

Apple, Inc.'s legal troubles are mounting over its voice activated assistant Siri. The company was hit with a putative class action lawsuit on Thursday by iPhone 16 users accusing the tech giant of misrepresenting the availability of advanced AI features for Siri voice in the latest fleet of smartphones.

The lawsuit, filed in federal in San Jose court by Jennifer Pafiti of Pomerantz LLP in Los Angeles, claims that the promised advancements in AI based Siri features - known as Apple Intelligence - were "a primary reason for customers to buy the iPhone 16." The complaint accuses the company of "misleading even the most sophisticated institutional followers of Apple." Accardi et al v. Apple Inc., 5:25-cv-04160 (N.D. Cal. filed May 15, 2025).

The company is advertising the features on its website, saying this latest version of Siri helps streamline tasks and can "tap into ChatGPT when it might be helpful to answer your question."

Neither Pafiti nor Apple's media relations office could be reached for comment on Thursday. Apple's rollout for the advanced AI Siri features has been hamstrung by delays since the company announced the improvements in June 2024 at the Worldwide Developer Conference.

In a public statement to news outlets on March 7, Apple's media relations office announced that the launch of Apple Intelligence for Siri would be delayed due to ongoing improvements to the software.

"Siri helps our users find what they need and get things done quickly, and in just the past six months, we've made Siri more conversational, introduced new features like type to Siri and product knowledge, and added an integration with ChatGPT," the company stated. "We've also been working on a more personalized Siri, giving it more awareness of your personal context, as well as the ability to take action for you within and across your apps. It's going to take us longer than we thought to deliver on these features and we anticipate rolling them out in the coming year."

Since June 2024, Pafiti's clients claim, Apple had "no reasonable basis" for promising consumers that the new features would be available for the iPhone 16.

"At the time Apple made these promises at the 2024 WWDC, Apple was nowhere near realizing these features and remains far from realizing them to this day. ... Indeed, some sources at Apple predict that the next-generation Siri promised by Apple will not be ready until 2027 at the earliest, three years after the Apple Intelligence announcement in 2024," the complaint stated.

According to the company's website, Apple Intelligence is available in beta version for all iPhone 16 models and other devices in several languages. However, the company states, "Features are subject to change. Some features, applications, and services may not be available in all regions or all languages."

Additionally on Thursday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Van Keulen recused herself from the case. It was reassigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Virginia K. DeMarchi. The plaintiffs' attorneys and Apple's media relations office did not respond to requests for comment regarding the reasons for the judge's recusal.

Pafiti's colleagues from Pomerantz LLP in New York City serve as co-counsel in the case: Jeremy A. Lieberman and Austin P. Van.

Apple has battled other class actions in California courts over its Siri feature in recent years.

The new case comes three months after Apple's $95 million settlement with iPhone users who claimed Siri was eavesdropping on their conversations was approved on Feb. 10. Apple denied wrongdoing in the settlement's terms. Lopez v. Apple, Inc., 4:19-cv-04577 (N.D. Cal. filed Aug. 7, 2019).