Apple has been hit with yet another lawsuit – this time, it alleging that the Cupertino-headquartered tech giant engaged in false advertising regarding the rollout of its Apple Intelligence features. A class-action lawsuit was filed on Wednesday in the U.S. District Court in San Jose, claiming that Apple misled consumers by promoting its AI-powered features while knowing that many of them would not be available at launch. The lawsuit seeks financial damages for consumers who purchased iPhones and other Apple devices under the assumption that these AI functionalities would be accessible immediately.
The lawsuit argues that Apple’s advertising campaigns created a strong expectation among consumers that Apple Intelligence would be available on day one. Plaintiffs claim that Apple used AI-powered Siri upgrades, Image Playground, and Genmoji as key selling points for its latest devices, pushing consumers to upgrade to newer models under the impression that these advanced features would be functional at launch.
However, Apple later confirmed that many of these AI tools were delayed, leaving customers without the capabilities they had been promised. The lawsuit contends that Apple was fully aware of these delays but continued to promote these features aggressively, leading to a misrepresentation of the product’s actual functionality at the time of sale. “Apple’s advertisements cultivated a clear and reasonable consumer expectation that these transformative features would be available upon the iPhone’s release,” states the legal complaint. It further alleges that Apple promoted a “significantly limited or entirely absent version of Apple Intelligence”, misleading buyers regarding the AI capabilities of their devices.
To recap, Apple Intelligence was first introduced during last year’s WWDC, bringing a suite of AI-powered tools to iPhone, iPad, and Mac users. However, the tech titan struggled to meet its own deadlines for integrating these features into its devices. Reports indicate that Apple CEO Tim Cook has grown increasingly frustrated with the delays, with internal concerns about the execution of Apple’s AI strategy. According to Bloomberg, Cook has lost confidence in AI chief John Giannandrea, questioning whether Apple’s AI division is capable of delivering on its promises. In response, Apple has reportedly restructured its leadership and reassigned key AI projects to Mike Rockwell, the executive responsible for the development of Apple Vision Pro.
The lawsuit alleges that Apple’s AI delays have caused financial harm to consumers who upgraded to newer devices based on misleading information. One specific example cited in the lawsuit is a September 2024 advertisement featuring actor Bella Ramsey showcasing Siri’s supposed AI-powered enhancements. The ad was widely circulated online and on television, but Apple quietly removed it from YouTube after confirming the delays.
However, plaintiffs argue that Apple has failed to issue a retraction or correction for all other advertisements that made similar claims. And to add to this, the complaint also reveals that Apple’s marketing strategy aimed to position the company ahead of its competitors in the AI space. The lawsuit states that Apple’s promotion of Apple Intelligence was designed to generate “unprecedented excitement in the market”, encouraging customers to upgrade at a premium price while misleading them about the actual functionality of their devices.
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