Apple and the European Commission Hold Talks Over Blocked Siri AI Features in the EU

Apple CEO Tim Cook and European Commission Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen, who oversees EU digital regulation, held a video call on June 30, 2026. Both sides called the talks "constructive," but Siri's AI features remain blocked in Europe.

What the two sides agreed on

Neither side formally disclosed the outcome of the talks: Apple and the European Commission both limited themselves to the word "constructive." Virkkunen oversees the EU's body of digital regulation, which also applies to Apple as one of the largest tech companies operating in the European market.

Why Siri's AI features don't work in Europe

Because of requirements under European digital law, Apple cannot yet launch the full set of Siri AI features in the EU that users in other regions already have. The June 30 video call was one of the two sides' attempts to reach a compromise, and it came without any specific timeline for resolving the issue.

• Date of talks: June 30, 2026
• Participants: Tim Cook (Apple) and Henna Virkkunen (European Commission)
• Public outcome: the talks were described as "constructive"
• Status of Siri AI features in the EU: still blocked

Why the dispute is dragging on

"Constructive talks" may sound optimistic, but the participants named neither a timeline for lifting the restrictions nor the specific conditions under which Apple could launch Siri's AI features in the EU. That is a familiar pattern in drawn-out regulatory disputes between large US tech companies and Brussels: public statements stay vague until a concrete agreement is reached, and the process itself can stretch on for months. The fact that the talks happened at all, between Apple's CEO and the EU's top digital regulator, signals how much the issue matters to both sides. Tim Cook rarely joins video calls like this over regional regulatory disputes in person.

What this means

While Apple and the European Commission look for a compromise, Apple users in the EU are left without the full Siri AI assistant available in the US and other regions. The lack of any public timeline suggests the issue is still far from resolved, and the next round of contact between the two sides should be expected without any guarantee of a quick European launch. For other major tech companies building their own AI assistants, Apple's situation is a clear example of how heavily European digital regulation can affect when flagship AI features launch in a specific market.