AI has been sued by shareholders who allegedly exaggerating AI’s progress

Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) – The app was sued by shareholders on Friday in a proposed securities fraud class action lawsuit. This accused the iPhone of underestimating the time it took to integrate advanced artificial intelligence into the Siri voice assistant, and hurting the iPhone’s sales and stock price.

The complaint covers shareholders who suffered potential losses in hundreds of billions of dollars in the year ended June 9th, when Apple introduced several features and aesthetic improvements to their products, but took the AI ​​change modestly.

Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment. CEO Tim Cook, Chief Financial Officer Kevan Parev and former CFO Lucamaestri are also defendants in the suit filed in San Francisco federal court.

Eric Tucker-led shareholders said at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June 2024 that Apple believes AI will become a key driver for iPhone 16 devices.

However, they said the Cupertino, California-based company lacked a functional prototype of AI-based SIRI features and could not reasonably believe the feature would be ready for the iPhone 16S.

Shareholders said the truth began to emerge on March 7, when Apple delayed Siri upgrades to 2026, and continued through this year’s Worldwide Developer Conference held on June 9, when Apple delayed its Siri upgrades to 2026, and disappointed Apple’s AI Progress review.

Apple’s stock has lost nearly a quarter of its value since its high on December 26, 2024, wiping out its market value of around $900 billion.

Cases include U.S. District Court, Tuckerv. AppleInc et al, No. This is 25-05197.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel of New York, edited by Mark Porter and Rod Nickel)