Apple Sued for False Advertising of iPhone 16’s AI Capabilities

Apple has been hit with a lawsuit for delaying, and thereby falsely advertising, Apple Intelligence features, Axios reports. According to the lawsuit filed in the US District Court in San Jose on Wednesday, Apple advertised Apple Intelligence features for the iPhone 16 lineup despite knowing “it could not actually provide the capabilities that it was advertising.” Through its pre-release marketing campaigns, Apple “drove unprecedented excitement” and set a reasonable consumer expectation that these AI-powered features would be available upon the iPhone 16’s release in September, the lawsuit adds. The case comes just weeks after the company admitted it would need more time to roll out parts of Apple Intelligence. “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,” Apple told Daring Fireball earlier this month. The delayed features include a more personalized Siri capable of taking actions across apps and responding to queries based on a user’s on-device information. For example, you could say, ‘Play that podcast that Jamie recommended,’ and Siri will locate and play the episode, without you having to remember whether it was mentioned in a text or an email, Apple explained in June. These Siri features were rumored to have been pushed to 2026 first and then to 2027. After admitting to the delay earlier this month, Apple added a disclaimer on its website last week and appointed a new team lead for Apple Intelligence this week. According to the plaintiffs, Apple has, through its actions, “deceived millions of consumers into purchasing new phones they did not need based on features that do not exist, in violation of multiple false advertising and consumer protection laws.” They also accuse Apple of gaining an “unfair advantage over competitors in the market who do not tout non-existent AI features, or who actually deliver them as promised.” The plaintiffs have requested that the case be considered a class action. Among other reliefs, they have also sought monetary compensation for all those who purchased Apple Intelligence-equipped phones.