Apple has agreed to pay $250 million to settle a class action lawsuit over how it marketed its AI capabilities ahead of the iPhone 16’s launch. The Financial Times first reported the news.
The complaint alleges that Apple overstated the wide range of features offered by Apple Intelligence, including a significantly upgraded version of its Siri assistant. The complaint alleges that the company gave 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 promised improvements to Siri that have not yet been fully realized.
As a result, people who purchased an iPhone 15 or iPhone 16 believed they were paying for cutting-edge AI tools that were not actually available at the time of purchase, the complaint alleges. The lawsuit calls this false advertising and alleges that Apple’s marketing influenced purchasing decisions based on incomplete or delayed features.
Apple did not admit any wrongdoing in court, but chose to settle the lawsuit rather than proceed. Under the proposed agreement, eligible U.S. customers who purchase an iPhone 15 or iPhone 16 between June 10, 2024 and March 29, 2025 would receive up to $95 per device.
Apple has been touting more advanced versions of Siri since announcing Apple Intelligence during WWDC in 2024. The expected update is expected to make Siri work more like modern AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude. The upgraded experience is rumored to be powered by Google Gemini, and a new report suggests the company’s next iPhone operating system could allow users to choose from a number of large third-party language models.
The settlement was filed ahead of Apple’s annual developer conference on June 8, where it plans to preview an AI-enhanced version of Siri.
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