In the latest AI challenge, Apple faces false advertising lawsuits on the grounds that it is delayed in providing artificial intelligence capabilities.
The complaint, filed Wednesday by the Malibu-based Clarkson Law Firm in U.S. District Court in San Jose, accuses Apple of unfair competition, false advertising and misrepresentation of negligence.
“Consumers are excited about AI, but unfortunately, it has led to a huge tech overload and underestimation,” Timothy Giordano, partner at Clarkson Law Firm, said in a statement to Business Insider.
The plaintiffs in the class action, led by customer Peter Landsheft and other iPhone 16 owners, said Apple “harnessed consumers’ desire for cutting-edge artificial intelligence software and features on mobile phones,” and did not provide all of the Apple Intelligence tools announced ahead of the launch of the iPhone 16.
Since its September rollout, the iPhone 16 has been touted as the first iPhone “built for AI,” and Apple Intelligence will appear in many ads on the device. This technology is only available on iPhone 15 Pro models and above. The iPhone 16 lineup starts at $799.
In a rare move, however, Apple announced earlier this month that Siri’s planned AI upgrade, which was demonstrated several months before the latest iPhone was released, will take longer than expected. Plaintiffs used a more personalized version of Siri to refer to the ads from September featuring actor Bella Ramsey.
The lawsuit says it now “exaggerates the capabilities of AI and makes the consumer believe they are purchasing devices that do not exist or have been effectively misrepresented,” the lawsuit says.
Tech Giant introduced Apple Intelligence at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June 2024 almost a year ago. Apple introduced an AI-powered iPhone with tools for editing and editing photos.
Apple Intelligence was released in October, a month after the iPhone 16 was released. The complaint stated that Apple’s Mirage of Innovation included a personalized SIRI assistant capable of handling complex tasks and cross-reference iOS apps. This is a feature that Apple will be rolling out “next year.”
By supporting Apple’s play and iPhone sales to catch up with AI rivals such as Google, Meta and Microsoft, it has also sparked criticism of what has been offered so far and future questions.
In 2024, “Apple showed us a demo, but only did it if things were almost complete and said it would ship ‘late this year’. You will not miss such deadlines.
Internally, it appears that Apple is making changes to make things go in the AI department. Bloomberg reported Wednesday that Vision Pro creator Mike Rockwell will replace Siri’s director and AI head John Giannandrea.
Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
The suit itself may not be enough to hurt Apple’s share, but highlighting the “failure” of providing AI-boost Siri on time is a “threatening to Apple’s market value.”
Apple has nowhere to hide now that its competitor Genai chatbot is up and running, he added.
