{
  "name": "UK vs EU AI Availability Tracker",
  "description": "A maintained record of which consumer AI features launched in the US, the UK and the EU - who got what, when, in what order, and what reason (if any) the company gave.",
  "url": "https://aitoolbible.com/uk-eu-ai-tracker.php",
  "publisher": "AI Tool Bible",
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "last_updated": "2026-07-27",
  "records": [
    {
      "section": "uk_ahead",
      "feature": "Apple Intelligence",
      "vendor": "Apple",
      "us_status": "Oct 2024 (iOS 18.1)",
      "uk_status": "11 Dec 2024 (iOS 18.2)",
      "eu_status": "1 Apr 2025 (iOS 18.4)",
      "company_stated_reason": "\"Regulatory uncertainties brought about by the Digital Markets Act\" (Apple statement, June 2024)",
      "reason_stated": true,
      "source_label": "Apple / CNBC",
      "source_url": "https://www.cnbc.com/2024/06/21/apple-ai-europe-dma-macos.html"
    },
    {
      "section": "uk_ahead",
      "feature": "Live Translation on AirPods",
      "vendor": "Apple",
      "us_status": "11 Sep 2025 (iOS 26)",
      "uk_status": "11 Sep 2025 (at launch)",
      "eu_status": "Dec 2025 (iOS 26.2)",
      "company_stated_reason": "Delay due to \"interoperability requirements of the Digital Markets Act\" (Apple availability page)",
      "reason_stated": true,
      "source_label": "TechCrunch",
      "source_url": "https://techcrunch.com/2025/09/11/apples-new-live-translation-feature-for-airpods-wont-be-available-in-the-eu-at-launch/"
    },
    {
      "section": "uk_ahead",
      "feature": "Meta AI assistant",
      "vendor": "Meta",
      "us_status": "Sep 2023",
      "uk_status": "9 Oct 2024 (after an agreement with the ICO)",
      "eu_status": "20 Mar 2025 (text-only at launch)",
      "company_stated_reason": "EU training paused at the Irish DPC’s request (June 2024); Meta: \"It’s taken longer than we would have liked... as we continue to navigate its complex regulatory system\"",
      "reason_stated": true,
      "source_label": "Meta newsroom",
      "source_url": "https://about.fb.com/news/2025/03/europe-meet-your-newest-assistant-meta-ai/"
    },
    {
      "section": "uk_ahead",
      "feature": "Multimodal Llama models",
      "vendor": "Meta",
      "us_status": "Sep 2024 (Llama 3.2 vision)",
      "uk_status": "Included",
      "eu_status": "Never released (restriction carried into the Llama 4 licence, Apr 2025)",
      "company_stated_reason": "\"Not in the EU due to the unpredictable nature of the European regulatory environment\" (Meta, July 2024)",
      "reason_stated": true,
      "source_label": "Axios",
      "source_url": "https://www.axios.com/2024/07/17/meta-future-multimodal-ai-models-eu"
    },
    {
      "section": "uk_ahead",
      "feature": "ChatGPT agent",
      "vendor": "OpenAI",
      "us_status": "17 Jul 2025",
      "uk_status": "17 Jul 2025 (day one)",
      "eu_status": "23 Jul 2025 (EEA + Switzerland followed)",
      "company_stated_reason": "None given – OpenAI said only: \"We are still working on enabling access for the European Economic Area and Switzerland\"",
      "reason_stated": false,
      "source_label": "OpenAI",
      "source_url": "https://openai.com/index/introducing-chatgpt-agent/"
    },
    {
      "section": "uk_ahead",
      "feature": "Operator (agent)",
      "vendor": "OpenAI",
      "us_status": "23 Jan 2025",
      "uk_status": "21 Feb 2025 (first expansion wave)",
      "eu_status": "Later; folded into ChatGPT agent (Jul 2025)",
      "company_stated_reason": "None given – \"Still working on making Operator available in the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein & Iceland\" (OpenAI)",
      "reason_stated": false,
      "source_label": "Neowin",
      "source_url": "https://www.neowin.net/news/chatgpt-pro-users-in-more-countries-can-now-try-its-ai-agent-operator/"
    },
    {
      "section": "uk_ahead",
      "feature": "Gemini in Chrome",
      "vendor": "Google",
      "us_status": "Sep 2025; 172-country expansion Jun 2026",
      "uk_status": "14 Jul 2026 (desktop; iOS due Aug 2026)",
      "eu_status": "Still excluded (as of 27 Jul 2026)",
      "company_stated_reason": "None given",
      "reason_stated": false,
      "source_label": "Google blog",
      "source_url": "https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/chrome/were-expanding-gemini-in-chrome-to-users-in-the-uk/"
    },
    {
      "section": "uk_ahead",
      "feature": "Google AI Mode in Search",
      "vendor": "Google",
      "us_status": "May 2025",
      "uk_status": "28 Jul 2025 (among the first markets after the US and India)",
      "eu_status": "Most EU markets later or still waiting",
      "company_stated_reason": "None given",
      "reason_stated": false,
      "source_label": "Google blog",
      "source_url": "https://blog.google/around-the-globe/google-europe/united-kingdom/ai-mode-search-uk/"
    },
    {
      "section": "both_excluded",
      "feature": "Image generation in AI Mode / AI Overviews",
      "vendor": "Google",
      "us_status": "2025; extended to AI Overviews 14 Jul 2026",
      "uk_status": "Excluded (as of 27 Jul 2026)",
      "eu_status": "Excluded – the 157-country support list contains no UK, EU or EEA state",
      "company_stated_reason": "None given",
      "reason_stated": false,
      "source_label": "Google support page (country list)",
      "source_url": "https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/16649374"
    },
    {
      "section": "both_excluded",
      "feature": "Sora (v1) video generation",
      "vendor": "OpenAI",
      "us_status": "9 Dec 2024",
      "uk_status": "28 Feb 2025 (11-week delay)",
      "eu_status": "28 Feb 2025 (same day as UK)",
      "company_stated_reason": "None given – Sam Altman: \"We’re going to try our hardest to be able to launch [in Europe], but we don’t have any timing to share yet\"",
      "reason_stated": false,
      "source_label": "TechCrunch",
      "source_url": "https://techcrunch.com/2025/02/27/openais-sora-is-now-available-in-the-eu-uk/"
    },
    {
      "section": "both_excluded",
      "feature": "Sora 2 app",
      "vendor": "OpenAI",
      "us_status": "30 Sep 2025 (US + Canada, invite-only)",
      "uk_status": "Never launched",
      "eu_status": "Never launched – the product was discontinued worldwide on 26 Apr 2026 without ever reaching the UK or EU",
      "company_stated_reason": "None given",
      "reason_stated": false,
      "source_label": "OpenAI help centre",
      "source_url": "https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001152-what-to-know-about-the-sora-discontinuation"
    },
    {
      "section": "both_excluded",
      "feature": "Gemini mobile app",
      "vendor": "Google",
      "us_status": "8 Feb 2024",
      "uk_status": "c. Jun 2024",
      "eu_status": "c. Jun 2024",
      "company_stated_reason": "None given",
      "reason_stated": false,
      "source_label": "Android Central",
      "source_url": "https://www.androidcentral.com/apps-software/googles-gemini-app-finally-expands-to-the-uk-and-eu"
    },
    {
      "section": "uk_ahead",
      "feature": "Meta AI image generation",
      "vendor": "Meta",
      "us_status": "2023",
      "uk_status": "Available earlier via WhatsApp",
      "eu_status": "Excluded at the March 2025 European launch (chat-only)",
      "company_stated_reason": "\"The model powering these Meta AI features wasn’t trained on first-party data from users in the EU\" (Meta)",
      "reason_stated": true,
      "source_label": "TechCrunch",
      "source_url": "https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/20/meta-ai-is-finally-coming-to-the-eu-but-with-limitations/"
    },
    {
      "section": "uk_only",
      "feature": "Spotify AI assistant (beta)",
      "vendor": "Spotify",
      "us_status": "14 Jul 2026",
      "uk_status": "Excluded – beta is US, Ireland and Sweden only",
      "eu_status": "Partially included (Ireland and Sweden are both EU members)",
      "company_stated_reason": "None given – the inclusion of two EU markets rules out the easy \"EU rules\" explanation",
      "reason_stated": false,
      "source_label": "Our reporting",
      "source_url": "https://aitoolbible.com/post.php?slug=spotify-now-has-an-ai-assistant-you-can-talk-to-just-not-in-britain"
    },
    {
      "section": "counter",
      "feature": "GPT-4o image generation",
      "vendor": "OpenAI",
      "us_status": "25 Mar 2025",
      "uk_status": "Day one",
      "eu_status": "Day one",
      "company_stated_reason": "No restriction to explain",
      "reason_stated": false,
      "source_label": "OpenAI",
      "source_url": "https://openai.com/index/introducing-4o-image-generation/"
    },
    {
      "section": "counter",
      "feature": "Midjourney V1 video",
      "vendor": "Midjourney",
      "us_status": "18 Jun 2025",
      "uk_status": "Day one",
      "eu_status": "Day one",
      "company_stated_reason": "No restriction to explain",
      "reason_stated": false,
      "source_label": "PetaPixel",
      "source_url": "https://petapixel.com/2025/06/20/midjourney-arrives-in-the-ai-video-space-with-v1-model/"
    },
    {
      "section": "counter",
      "feature": "GPT-5.6 general release",
      "vendor": "OpenAI",
      "us_status": "9 Jul 2026",
      "uk_status": "Global rollout over ~24 hours",
      "eu_status": "Global rollout over ~24 hours",
      "company_stated_reason": "No restriction to explain",
      "reason_stated": false,
      "source_label": "Our reporting",
      "source_url": "https://aitoolbible.com/post.php?slug=gpt-5-6-is-now-open-to-everyone-what-openai-s-new-model-means-for-you"
    },
    {
      "section": "uk_ahead",
      "feature": "Grok 4.5",
      "vendor": "xAI",
      "us_status": "16 Jul 2026",
      "uk_status": "16 Jul 2026 (at launch)",
      "eu_status": "Excluded – all 27 member states (as of 27 Jul 2026)",
      "company_stated_reason": "None given",
      "reason_stated": false,
      "source_label": "Cybernews",
      "source_url": "https://cybernews.com/geo-restrictions/how-to-access-grok-4-5-in-the-eu/"
    },
    {
      "section": "both_excluded",
      "feature": "Video Remix in Google Photos",
      "vendor": "Google",
      "us_status": "8 Jul 2026 (AI Plus/Pro/Ultra)",
      "uk_status": "Excluded (not in launch list)",
      "eu_status": "Excluded (no EU state in launch list)",
      "company_stated_reason": "None given",
      "reason_stated": false,
      "source_label": "Droid Life",
      "source_url": "https://www.droid-life.com/2026/07/08/google-photos-video-remix-feature/"
    },
    {
      "section": "counter",
      "feature": "GPT-Live voice (ChatGPT Voice)",
      "vendor": "OpenAI",
      "us_status": "8 Jul 2026",
      "uk_status": "Day one",
      "eu_status": "Day one",
      "company_stated_reason": "No restriction to explain",
      "reason_stated": false,
      "source_label": "OpenAI",
      "source_url": "https://openai.com/index/introducing-gpt-live/"
    }
  ]
}