Apple says Siri AI will be delayed in the EU for iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 due to the DMA; Siri AI will also not be available in China at launch
The new enhanced Siri AI features that Apple announced today at WWDC 2026 will not be available in the European Union or in China when they are released in beta later this year.
MacRumorsTim Hardwick
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple’s Siri upgrade has already slipped beyond earlier expectations: related coverage noted that the iOS 18 beta lacked the new Siri, and a planned smart-home display was reportedly pushed back while Apple worked toward readiness.
The current split follows distinct constraints in Apple’s two largest omitted markets. Reuters reported that Apple had sought an exemption from EU interoperability obligations without success, while March coverage said Apple lacked regulatory approval for a China launch.
First-order effects
EU and China users will not receive the enhanced Siri capabilities in the initial beta rollout, creating a materially uneven iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 feature set by region.
Apple must continue operating and marketing different Siri product configurations while it addresses the EU’s DMA-related requirements and China’s approval process.
Second-order effects
The delay reduces the immediate incentive for EU and China users to upgrade for Siri-specific functionality, while developers must contend with a staggered availability window for experiences that depend on the new assistant.
Apple’s interoperability dispute with the EU becomes a practical product-launch constraint, increasing pressure to define an implementation that satisfies regulators without changing the service elsewhere more than necessary.
Third-order effects
If major markets continue to impose different interoperability and approval conditions, global AI assistants are likely to ship as regionally differentiated services rather than as simultaneous platform-wide releases.
The episode reinforces that AI-feature roadmaps are increasingly shaped by regulatory clearance and platform-access rules alongside model readiness; the duration of the gap will determine whether this becomes a lasting competitive disadvantage in those markets.
The trend: Consumer AI is moving from a single global software release model toward jurisdiction-specific launches shaped by interoperability rules and local approvals.
Apple publishes a full-page press release blaming the EU for the delayed Siri AI launch in the region, while China got one footnote treatment for the similar delayed Siri AI launch [image]
lol at Apple acting like the DMA popped out of nowhere and delayed its AI features, as though the other AI companies haven't had to work around the DMA for years now. [image]
A rather bitter piece from Apple, seemingly trying to blame EU consumer protection law for attempting to protect consumers in the EU. — https://www.apple.com/...
@pat_hedger Misleading. The EU law simply requires operating system makers building APIs for their own services like AI, to make them available to developers who make competing services. You can allusions to the anticompetitive scheme here through vague mentions of ‘security’.
Competition policy is supposed to protect consumers and innovation. But the EU's DMA has once again prevented the latest and greatest service from reaching consumers. Adopting these policies stateside, like AICOA, would crush investment and innovation. https://www.apple.com/...