Which 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. Updated as new launches happen.
British and European users keep hitting "not available in your country" on new AI features. The lazy version of that story is "regulation is holding us back" – but the record is messier, and more interesting. Tracked launch by launch, the most common pattern is that the UK sits between the US and the EU: rarely first, rarely last. Some features skip both; at least one skipped Britain alone. And in most cases, the companies say nothing at all about why.
This page is a running record, not an argument. We log what launched where and when, quote the company's stated reason verbatim where one exists, and mark "none given" where it doesn't – which is most of the time. We log counter-examples too, because plenty of features launch everywhere at once, and a list that only collected exclusions would prove nothing. Independent research points the same way: a 2026 study from the Centre for the Governance of AI found 11% of advanced model releases were delayed or blocked in the EU against 7% in the UK – with data-protection rules, not the AI Act, identified as the biggest single factor.
Key finding: as of 27 July 2026, in 11 of the 16 tracked exclusions the company gave no public reason for leaving the UK or EU out. Where a reason exists, it is quoted verbatim below.
Free to reuse with credit (CC BY 4.0). Download the data: CSV · JSON. How to cite.
The most common pattern in the data: a feature ships in the US, reaches the UK weeks or months later, and reaches the EU last – or never.
| Feature | US | UK | EU | Company's stated reason | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple IntelligenceApple | Oct 2024 (iOS 18.1) | 11 Dec 2024 (iOS 18.2) | 1 Apr 2025 (iOS 18.4) | "Regulatory uncertainties brought about by the Digital Markets Act" (Apple statement, June 2024) | Apple / CNBC |
| Live Translation on AirPodsApple | 11 Sep 2025 (iOS 26) | 11 Sep 2025 (at launch) | Dec 2025 (iOS 26.2) | Delay due to "interoperability requirements of the Digital Markets Act" (Apple availability page) | TechCrunch |
| Meta AI assistantMeta | Sep 2023 | 9 Oct 2024 (after an agreement with the ICO) | 20 Mar 2025 (text-only at launch) | 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" | Meta newsroom |
| Multimodal Llama modelsMeta | Sep 2024 (Llama 3.2 vision) | Included | Never released (restriction carried into the Llama 4 licence, Apr 2025) | "Not in the EU due to the unpredictable nature of the European regulatory environment" (Meta, July 2024) | Axios |
| ChatGPT agentOpenAI | 17 Jul 2025 | 17 Jul 2025 (day one) | 23 Jul 2025 (EEA + Switzerland followed) | None given – OpenAI said only: "We are still working on enabling access for the European Economic Area and Switzerland" | OpenAI |
| Operator (agent)OpenAI | 23 Jan 2025 | 21 Feb 2025 (first expansion wave) | Later; folded into ChatGPT agent (Jul 2025) | None given – "Still working on making Operator available in the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein & Iceland" (OpenAI) | Neowin |
| Gemini in ChromeGoogle | Sep 2025; 172-country expansion Jun 2026 | 14 Jul 2026 (desktop; iOS due Aug 2026) | Still excluded (as of 27 Jul 2026) | None given | Google blog |
| Google AI Mode in SearchGoogle | May 2025 | 28 Jul 2025 (among the first markets after the US and India) | Most EU markets later or still waiting | None given | Google blog |
| Meta AI image generationMeta | 2023 | Available earlier via WhatsApp | Excluded at the March 2025 European launch (chat-only) | "The model powering these Meta AI features wasn't trained on first-party data from users in the EU" (Meta) | TechCrunch |
| Grok 4.5xAI | 16 Jul 2026 | 16 Jul 2026 (at launch) | Excluded – all 27 member states (as of 27 Jul 2026) | None given | Cybernews |
Cases where Britain and the EU sat (or still sit) behind the same wall.
| Feature | US | UK | EU | Company's stated reason | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image generation in AI Mode / AI OverviewsGoogle | 2025; extended to AI Overviews 14 Jul 2026 | Excluded (as of 27 Jul 2026) | Excluded – the 157-country support list contains no UK, EU or EEA state | None given | Google support page (country list) |
| Sora (v1) video generationOpenAI | 9 Dec 2024 | 28 Feb 2025 (11-week delay) | 28 Feb 2025 (same day as UK) | 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" | TechCrunch |
| Sora 2 appOpenAI | 30 Sep 2025 (US + Canada, invite-only) | Never launched | Never launched – the product was discontinued worldwide on 26 Apr 2026 without ever reaching the UK or EU | None given | OpenAI help centre |
| Gemini mobile appGoogle | 8 Feb 2024 | c. Jun 2024 | c. Jun 2024 | None given | Android Central |
| Video Remix in Google PhotosGoogle | 8 Jul 2026 (AI Plus/Pro/Ultra) | Excluded (not in launch list) | Excluded (no EU state in launch list) | None given | Droid Life |
The rarest pattern – and the least explained.
| Feature | US | UK | EU | Company's stated reason | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spotify AI assistant (beta)Spotify | 14 Jul 2026 | Excluded – beta is US, Ireland and Sweden only | Partially included (Ireland and Sweden are both EU members) | None given – the inclusion of two EU markets rules out the easy "EU rules" explanation | Our reporting |
The control group. Plenty of major AI features launch everywhere at once – exclusion is not the default.
| Feature | US | UK | EU | Company's stated reason | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GPT-4o image generationOpenAI | 25 Mar 2025 | Day one | Day one | No restriction to explain | OpenAI |
| Midjourney V1 videoMidjourney | 18 Jun 2025 | Day one | Day one | No restriction to explain | PetaPixel |
| GPT-5.6 general releaseOpenAI | 9 Jul 2026 | Global rollout over ~24 hours | Global rollout over ~24 hours | No restriction to explain | Our reporting |
| GPT-Live voice (ChatGPT Voice)OpenAI | 8 Jul 2026 | Day one | Day one | No restriction to explain | OpenAI |
This tracker is free to reuse under a Creative Commons BY 4.0 licence. Quote it, reproduce the table, or build on the dataset – the only condition is that you credit AI Tool Bible with a link back to this page. Journalists and researchers are welcome to use it as a primary source; corrections and additions are welcome at hello@aitoolbible.com.
Download the full dataset: CSV · JSON. Each row lists the feature, vendor, US / UK / EU status, the company's verbatim reason (or "none given"), and a source link.
A feature earns a row when a company launches a consumer AI feature with a published availability list (or a documented regional gap) affecting the UK and/or EU. Dates come from vendor announcements and support pages first, credible press second – each row links its source. Counter-examples (day-one parity) are logged with the same discipline, as the control group. Corrections and new entries are welcome: hello@aitoolbible.com.
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