Why Apple’s A.I. Upgrade for Siri Won’t Be Available in Europe
A regulatory dispute has indefinitely delayed the release of Siri AI.
A regulatory dispute has indefinitely delayed the release of Siri AI.
This week, Apple announced an improved version of its digital assistant, Siri, incorporating artificial intelligence features to help users answer questions, complete tasks and find information from across their device and apps.
Apple said Siri would be available later this year, but the roughly 450 million people in the 27 nations that make up the European Union will have to wait. A regulatory dispute between Apple and the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, is delaying the release of the new A.I. features.
The root of the issue is a competition law, the Digital Markets Act, or D.M.A., which requires large tech companies like Apple to make their products interoperable. That means outside developers would be allowed to offer competing A.I. digital assistants to download instead of Siri.
European regulators said the rules were necessary to improve competition. Apple said compliance would create privacy and security vulnerabilities.
To offer an effective A.I. assistant, the software needs wide access to a person’s device to crawl through files, apps, photos and other data. Giving such access to an outside app developer creates the risk of stolen personal data, including passwords and photos, or the altering of files and account settings without permission, Apple said.
“According to E.U. regulators, the D.M.A. requires Apple to give any A.I. system nearly unlimited access to a user’s device, as well as the ability to act on that access autonomously without a user’s ongoing visibility and control,” the company said.
