Apple had gone all-in on AI at its WWDC 2024, promising a veritable suite of AI-powered capabilities that have yet to materialize even after two years. And now, the Cupertino-based tech giant is paying the price for over-promising and under-delivering on its much-hyped AI-powered Siri.
Apple to pay $250 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that had accused it of running a false advertisement campaign by hyping up the yet-to-be-seen AI capabilities of its Siri voice assistant
For the benefit of those who might not be aware, Apple had extensively touted a more personalized Siri at its WWDC 2024, promising a voice assistant that could carry out context-based tasks within supported apps via voice commands, leverage personal data to offer tailored services, such as scouring the Messages app to find a specific podcast mentioned in a text conversation, and understand on-screen content to perform related agentic tasks.
Interestingly, Apple was supposed to ship these features with the iOS 26.4 update in February 2026, as per some of the recent tidbits by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Yet, these capabilities have yet to materialize, and presumably remain in the offing as Apple continues to work towards a new chatbot-style Siri that has been built over a customized version of Google's Gemini.
This brings us to the core of today's topic. Apple has now opted to settle a class-action lawsuit for $250 million. The lawsuit had accused the Cupertino-based tech giant of indulging in a false advertisement campaign that erroneously hyped up Siri's AI capabilities, coaxing buyers towards the iPhone 16 lineup under supposedly false pretenses.
Do note that Apple had halted its marketing campaign by March 2025, while simultaneously delaying the launch of Siri's new capabilities.
Under the terms of the settlement, all those who submit a claim form will receive a payment of $25 per eligible device, which includes the iPhone 16, iPhone 16e, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max models purchased between June 10, 2024, and March 29, 2025. If, however, the volume of claims is low, each eligible device can entail a payout as high as $95.
About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover. When I'm not writing, I'm traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.
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