The lawsuit claims the company forced buyers to upgrade and failed to deliver on its over-hyped features. It would be a significant understatement to say that Apple Intelligence has disappointed. The company recently removed an advertisement starring Bella Ramsey, which featured an ‘upgraded’ version of Siri. Sadly, Apple did not fulfill its promise of a better voice assistant, leading to the lawsuit. The legal action was filed due to how Apple marketed its iPhone 16 lineup, claiming that Apple used “false advertising” and “unfair competition” to persuade consumers to upgrade.
The federal lawsuit, filed on Wednesday in the U.S. District Court in San Jose, seeks class action status. While the report by Axios did not mention specific figures for damages, it stated that consumers who bought new iPhones and other devices compatible with Apple Intelligence should be compensated. The firm behind the filing is Clarkson Law Firm, which has also sued tech giants like Google and OpenAI over their AI practices, so it is safe to say that they have experience in such matters. More details are listed below.
Apple’s advertisements saturated the internet, television, and other airwaves, creating a clear and reasonable consumer expectation that these transformative features would be available upon the iPhone’s release. This generated unprecedented excitement in the market, even for Apple, as the company knew this would happen.As it had been trying to do, this was part of the Apple plan to persuade consumers to upgrade and raise their prices, or for Apple to create itself in starker distinction against its competitors in the AI arms race.
Even so, the Apple Intelligence advertisement, which displayed the revamped Siri, was taken down only after confirmation that the feature was being delayed until 2026, yet remained on the Web for months. This could lead prospective buyers to believe that this generative AI feature was still coming. The failures resulted in management changes at Apple, with John Giannandrea, head of AI, being replaced by Mike Rockwell, the mastermind behind Apple Vision Pro.
The California-based firm is no stranger to lawsuits, and consumers might feel sympathetic, having paid a premium for Apple Intelligence features that did not deliver as promised. There may also be backlash regarding generative AI features that are not compatible with iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus due to insufficient RAM and the lack of a capable neural engine, especially since Apple Intelligence had been officially announced just a year ago.
All of these events could lead to legal proceedings, and whatever the outcome, we will keep our readers updated.
