On Friday, Apple was hit with a class action lawsuit from shareholders alleging securities fraud. The claim suggests that the company downplayed the integration time needed for advanced artificial intelligence in its Siri voice assistants, which purportedly impacted iPhone sales and stock prices negatively.
The lawsuit highlights shareholders who accuse Apple of incurring potential losses amounting to hundreds of billions of dollars in the year up to June 9. During this period, Apple introduced various features and updates to its products but seemed to take a cautious approach with the AI changes.
Apple has not responded to requests for comments. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Francisco, includes CEO Tim Cook, CFO Kevan Parev, and former CFO Luca Maestri as defendants.
Led by Eric Tucker, the shareholders noted that during the Worldwide Developers Conference in June 2024, Apple expressed that it expects AI to be a significant element for their upcoming iPhone 16 devices.
However, the shareholders pointed out that the Cupertino, California-based company appears to lack a functional prototype of AI-driven Siri features, raising doubts about whether these enhancements would be ready for the iPhone 16S.
The turning point, according to shareholders, came on March 7 when Apple postponed Siri upgrades to 2026. This sense of urgency continued to grow during this year’s Worldwide Developer Conference on June 9, revealing further delays and underwhelming updates regarding Apple’s AI progress.
Since reaching a record high on December 26, 2024, Apple’s stock has fallen nearly 25%, reducing its market value by about $900 billion.
The case is filed under U.S. District Court, Tuckerv. AppleInc et al, No. 25-05197.
