Apple Sued by Shareholder Over Delayed Siri Features Allegedly Lowering Stock Price

[MacRumors]

Apple shareholder Eric Tucker today filed a proposed class action lawsuit against the company in a California court, over alleged violations of federal U.S. securities laws.

Apple's CEO Tim Cook, former CFO Luca Maestri, and current CFO Kevan Parekh are also named as defendants in the case, which still needs to be certified by a judge.

The complaint alleges that Apple made false statements related to the more personalized version of Siri that it previewed during its WWDC 2024 keynote. The complaint alleges that these actions hurt the company's stock price, and thereby harmed shareholders.

"Unbeknownst to investors, Apple lacked a functional prototype of these advanced AI-based Siri features at the time of the 2024 WWDC and had no reasonable basis to believe it could deliver the product it was advertising within the iPhone 16 product cycle, if ever," the lawsuit alleges. The complaint cites a Daring Fireball post by John Gruber that described the Siri features as being merely a "concept video" when they were first announced.

The complaint also mentions the personalized Siri ad starring actor Bella Ramsey that Apple pulled from YouTube, and recaps many other known facts about the delayed Siri features. The lawsuit is very similar to previous class action lawsuits filed against Apple over this situation, except this one is filed by a shareholder and is focused on securities laws.

In March, Apple said it anticipated rolling out the delayed Siri features "in the coming year" from that point. In a recent interview, Apple's marketing chief Greg Joswiak said that the "coming year" refers to 2026. iOS 26.4 is likely the current target for a rollout.

Apple's stock price dropped nearly 13% in the week after the company disclosed the delay.

Apple has yet to comment on the lawsuit.

Article Link: Apple Sued by Shareholder Over Delayed Siri Features Allegedly Lowering Stock Price

 

[MacUserFella]

Apple if getting consistently sued was a Squid Game challenge: 👑

 

[LawJolla]

In my professional opinion... if true, there's some merit here.

 

[germanbeer007]

The complaint cites a Daring Fireball post by John Gruber

Immediate case dismissal lmao. Who the **** gives a **** about what John Gruber has to say?

 

[iPay]

Now, if Apple have balls, they let AI Siri Lawyer take care of the case.

 

[racerhomie]

They actually brought John Gruber into this?
Seriously?

 

[Naraxus]

This will laughably and deservedly get thrown out.

 

[Tripps9000]

Wow Siri has been nothing but a pain for Apple these days😂🤣

 

[GioGiusi]

The only argument ANYONE anywhere might have is that iPhone 16 advertising may have included false examples, and therefore false advertising. But that is still sketchy at best.

This here is laughably stupid. If you don't like your Apple stock, sell it, and shut the **** up.

 

[MrkJensen]

Curious to see if this Eric Tucker plans to sue for delivering more than expected.

 

[jz0309]

not surprised ... wake me up if it actually goes to trial

 

[digimc]

So a shareholder suing Apple? If successful, wouldn't that hurt Apple's stock price even further?

 

[breenmask]

Immediate case dismissal lmao. Who the **** gives a **** about what John Gruber has to say?

lmao I was about to say.

John Gruber is a nobody. Anyone could have created Markdown and that was the last productive thing John Gruber contributed to the world. Even Mark Gurman has been owning him on social media.

 

[diskrisk]

It's sad cause I have the theory that it was major shareholders that forced Apple to rush out Apple Intelligence. It came at the cusp of almost every other company announcing it, and it's definitely not crazy to think that their board of directors and major shareholders pressured Apple into making an announcement sooner than later. Imagine your investors forcing you to push out a feature you know is not done yet; the feature doesn't work because, well, it's not done yet; and now those same investors are suing you because the thing you told them is not done yet is, in fact, not done yet.

 

[Lioness~]

Great, put Siri in jail for life.

 

[IceCool]

I firmly believe that, especially at this point, Apple should just take as long as they need to blow expectations. I find it ironic that an Apple shareholder is suing over this IFYKYK.

 

[fatTribble]

Great, put Siri in jail for life.

There is a jail like that in Star Trek Lower Decks 🤓🤪

 

[now i see it]

Siri has been garbage for 11 years and counting, so I'm going to launch a lawsuit because its still garbage

 

[sevoneone]

So a shareholder suing Apple? If successful, wouldn't that hurt Apple's stock price even further?

If successful, the precedent it sets would be bad for any publicly traded company. If Apple made announcements with the sole intent of inflating their stock price, there would be a case. But, that is clearly not what happened. The stock market is a casino, this guy placed a bet on Apple succeeding. Sorry that bet didn’t pan out… if you’re mad, pull your chips (sell your stock) and go play elsewhere.

And as far as false advertising, I’m sure there is something in Apple’s EULA that covers delayed and canceled features that no one reads when they tap the Agree button the first time they power up their device.

 

[McScooby]

So a shareholder suing Apple? If successful, wouldn't that hurt Apple's stock price even further?

Outcome to force Apple on a share buyback could work for both sides?

 

[AppliedMicro]

This here is laughably stupid. If you don't like your Apple stock, sell it, and shut the **** up.

The stock price at what you sell may be lower than if Apple had not announced these AI features.
Making misleading or untruthful statements by a company may result in investment losses for investors.
That’s why company’s are legally regulated in what they’re allowed to announce and state.

And as far as false advertising, I’m sure there is something in Apple’s EULA that covers delayed and canceled features

Are EULA accepted before or upon purchase of a hardware product?

 

[JPack]

People who think this will get easily thrown out, don't fully understand how powerful CEO statements are.

Apple reaches $490 million settlement over CEO Cook's China sales comments

Apple agreed to pay $490 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that alleged Chief Executive Tim Cook defrauded shareholders by concealing falling demand for iPhones in China.

www.reuters.com

 

[supergt]

not surprised ... wake me up if it actually goes to trial

Could be settled if Apple wants to keep stuff secret. There are probably lots of bad and embarrassing emails from Apple execs they want to keep hush hush.

 

[GMShadow]

Hope Goober enjoys being deposed and banned from Apple events for life. I'm sure the temper tantrum was worth it.

 

[GoosePoops]

What was worse? The rollout of Mobile Me or Apple Intelligence?