• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, April 23, 2025

Apple's artificial intelligence (AI) rollout just became a bit rockier after having to maneuver through several lawsuits and regulatory challenges.

Now the BBB National Programs' National Advertising Division wants the iPhone maker to rethink some of its claims to customers.

A spokesperson for The National Advertising Division (NAD) on Tuesday told MediaPost that "as AI tools are released into the market, The National Advertising Division (NAD) ensures that claims about the capabilities of these tools meet the same truth-in-advertising and consumer protection standards as other product claims," after releasing a statement that the company had engaged in dishonest advertising. 

In the press release statement, NAD said Apple had been promoting features that did not exist yet after launching an inquiry based on the claims it received under the tag, “Available Now.” Features included Priority Notifications, Image Generation tools (Image Playground, Genmoji, and Image Wand), ChatGPT integration into Siri and Writing Tools, and new Siri capabilities.

While Apple rolled out some features between October 2024 and March 2025, NAD said the company had misled the public into thinking these features had been available since the launch. It suggested that Apple's disclosures in footnotes and small print were not sufficiently clear or conspicuous, and were not close to the triggering claims.

“While we disagree with the NAD’s findings related to features that are available to users now, we appreciate the opportunity to work with them and will follow their recommendations,” Apple told NAD.

Two recent lawsuits also accuse Apple of falsely advertising its AI features on iPhone 16 -- particularly the availability of a more capable Siri voice assistant, the Vancouver Sun reported in March. The lawsuits stated the promises included innovative artificial intelligence features that it did not have.

The marketing campaign included “misrepresentations and/or misleading statements” that the iPhone 16 would be equipped with its new Apple Intelligence, the Vancouver Sun reported, citing the notice filed in B.C. Supreme Court.

AI adoption among consumers has risen, but adoption among businesses has reached 78% of organizations, according to Search Engine Journal, citing a study from Stanford's 2025 AI Index report.

The report suggests that costs have fallen, with the price to adopt becoming 280 times less expensive in less than two years.

It also states that in 2024, U.S. companies invested $109.1 billion in AI -- nearly 12 times more than China’s $9.3 billion and 24 times more than the U.K.’s $4.5 billion.

Generative AI (GAI) saw particularly strong growth, attracting $33.9 billion globally in private investment -- up 18.7% increase compared with 2023.

AI business use is also accelerating, with 78% of organizations reported they used AI in 2024 -- up from 55% the year before, according to Stanford.

And while the Stanford benchmark study is interesting, it did not outline the specific methodology behind the data.