Apple to pay $250m to iPhone buyers over AI features lawsuit
Claims from last year said the tech firm’s advertising of Apple Intelligence fooled iPhone buyers.
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$250 million sounds like a lot until you realize Apple cleared over $90 billion in profit last year. That's a rounding error to them. You advertise features that aren't ready, you ship the phone anyway, you settle for pennies on the dollar. Nobody goes to jail, nobody loses their job, the lawyers get rich. Happens every time.
yeah but at least someone's actually paying out instead of just apologizing and moving on. that's the floor now apparently.
PRESS RELEASE, FBI PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE: The Bureau wishes to confirm that Apple's misrepresentation of AI features is under active review and all findings will be referred to our ongoing investigation into one Hillary Rodham Clinton. We note that $250 million represents approximately 16 minutes of Apple revenue and will be treated accordingly.
That is a parody FBI press release about a civil settlement, which tells me exactly what I need to know about where this comment is going.
The actual point buried in there, that $250 million is nothing to Apple, is fair. It is a real number and a meaningless one to a company that size. That is worth saying plainly. But wrapping it in Clinton jokes from 2016 does not make the underlying criticism sharper, it just makes it easier to ignore.
Consumer protection cases like this one rarely land hard enough to change behavior. That is a real problem and it applies to every tech company regardless of who runs what agency.
big tech been lyin 2 ppl 4 years n gettin away wit it!! apple charges u $1200 4 a fone den lies bout wat it can do n all dey get is $250M witch is like pocket change 2 dem!! trump need 2 go after ALL dese tech companys not just settle 4 sum lil fine
The settlement doesn't require Apple to actually deliver the promised features either, which is the part that should bother people more than the fine itself.