“Contrary to Defendant’s claims of advanced AI capabilities, the Products offered a significantly limited or entirely absent version of Apple Intelligence, misleading consumers about its actual utility and performance,” the lawsuit said. “Worse yet, Defendant promoted its Products based on these overstated AI capabilities, leading consumers to believe they were purchasing a device with features that did not exist or were materially misrepresented.”
Apple has agreed to pay $250 million to settle a class-action lawsuit claiming that the company misled customers about the state and availability of its artificial intelligence features.
If approved, the proposed settlement would apply to United States-based consumers who purchased the iPhone 15 Pro or any model iPhone 16 between June 10, 2024, and March 29, 2025. People who submit qualifying claims are entitled to receive $25 for each eligible device.
The actual amount, however, “may decrease or increase up to $95 per device, depending on claim volume and other factors.”
The lawsuit, filed last March in a San Jose, California-based federal court, accused Apple of misrepresenting the capabilities of “Apple Intelligence.”
“Apple’s advertisements saturated the internet, television, and other airwaves to cultivate a clear and reasonable consumer expectation that these transformative features would be available upon the iPhone’s release,” the lawsuit said. “This drove unprecedented excitement in the market, even for Apple, as the company knew it would, and as part of Apple’s ongoing effort to convince consumers to upgrade at a premium price and to distinguish itself from competitors deemed to be winning the AI-arms race.”
Attorneys for the class argued that, in the time since Apple Intelligence was announced, the company repeatedly failed to live up to the same expectations it set.
“Contrary to Defendant’s claims of advanced AI capabilities, the Products offered a significantly limited or entirely absent version of Apple Intelligence, misleading consumers about its actual utility and performance,” the lawsuit said. “Worse yet, Defendant promoted its Products based on these overstated AI capabilities, leading consumers to believe they were purchasing a device with features that did not exist or were materially misrepresented.”
Axios notes that the lawsuit highlighted an advertisement from September, which featuring actor Bella Ramsey showing off Siri capabilities that were actually little more than works-in-progress.
Apple eventually pulled the advertisement off YouTube, but allegedly “failed to retract all the similarly false representations in the market that began in the Summer of 2024, much less take any action that would adequately remedy the consumers harmed by the company’s widespread deception.”
In a statement regarding the proposed settlement, Apple denied any and all wrongdoing and emphasized that, aside from Apple Intelligence, it has continued to release innovative new features.
“Since the launch of Apple Intelligence, we have introduced dozens of features across many languages that are integrated across Apple’s platforms, relevant to what users do every day, and built with privacy protections at every step. These include Visual Intelligence, Live Translation, Writing Tools, Genmoji, Clean Up and many more,” the company said. “Apple has reached a settlement to resolve claims related to the availability of two additional features. We resolved this matter to stay focused on doing what we do best, delivering the most innovative products and services to our users.”
Sources
Apple agrees to pay iPhone owners $250 million for not delivering AI Siri
Apple sued for false advertising over Apple Intelligence
iPhone owners could get up to $95 from Apple settlement. Here’s what to know.
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