Apple’s $250 Million Siri Settlement: A Cautionary Tale for AI Marketing

Apple has agreed to pay $250 million to resolve a class-action lawsuit alleging it misled customers about promised AI upgrades to Siri. The case centered on claims that Apple’s advertising for “Apple Intelligence” features—including a vastly improved Siri—amounted to false advertising, as those capabilities were not available at launch and remain delayed. The settlement, filed in California federal court, covers U. S.

buyers of iPhone 15 or iPhone 16 models purchased between June 10, 2024 and March 29, 2025. Eligible customers could receive up to $95 per device, with a baseline payment of $25. The agreement comes just ahead of Apple’s June developer conference, where the company is expected to finally demo some form of AI-enhanced Siri. Notably, the Better Business Bureau’s National Advertising Division had already flagged Apple’s claim that “Apple Intelligence is available now” as misleading, since the updated Siri was not yet shipping.

Apple admitted last year that its AI roadmap for Siri was behind schedule, and in March 2025 pulled a TV spot featuring actor Bella Ramsey using a fictional version of Siri that could recall past meetings. This is the second major Siri-related settlement in two years; in 2024, Apple paid $95 million to resolve claims that Siri recorded private conversations without consent. The current settlement includes no admission of wrongdoing. For business leaders, the case underscores the risks of promising AI features before they’re production-ready—a trap many tech firms are still learning to avoid.

Source: Wired gear