Tim Cook holds 'constructive' talks with EU over Siri AI launch

Apple CEO Tim Cook held what he described as 'constructive' discussions with EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen over launching Siri AI in the European Union while adhering to the bloc's digital regulations. Siri AI, powered by Apple Intelligence, is scheduled to arrive with iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 in September, but will not launch in the EU until Apple achieves compliance with regulations including the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

The sticking point is interoperability: the EU requires Apple to provide rival AI assistants with access to the same underlying iPhone capabilities that Siri enjoys. That demand strikes at the heart of Apple's integrated approach, where deep OS-level access is a core differentiator for its own assistant — making compliance both technically and strategically fraught.

The standoff echoes prior DMA friction over App Store rules and default-app choices, and it means EU users could again receive marquee AI features late or in degraded form, a recurring pattern for Apple Intelligence rollouts. For Apple, the calculus is whether opening Siri's underlying capabilities to competitors erodes its assistant advantage enough to justify delay.

Separately, Apple said it is decoupling and pushing software updates earlier than its normal iOS cycle in response to AI-driven cybersecurity concerns, releasing iOS 26.5.2 with 25 security patches, and updated Apple Creator Studio with faster AI features (image and shape generation requiring iPhone 15 Pro or later). The 'constructive' framing suggests negotiation rather than confrontation, but no firm EU launch date was given. Watch whether Apple secures a compliance path before the September launch and how it structures rival-assistant access.