At present, a portion of users within the European Union will be unable to access Apple’s latest AirPods feature. During its event on Tuesday, Apple unveiled Live Translation, which operates exactly as the name indicates. This feature makes its debut on the AirPods Pro 3 and will also be accessible for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 with ANC. However, users situated in the EU are currently excluded, at least for now, for reasons that remain unclear.

Apple pointed this out on a feature availability page, noting, “Live Translation with AirPods is not available if you are in the EU and your Apple Account Country or Region is also in the EU.” This indicates that two criteria must be satisfied for the limitation: your Apple account must be set up in the EU, and you need to be physically present there.

Apple has not provided an explanation for the absence of Live Translation in this region, but it is likely a result of regulatory factors. The Apple-centric tech site MacRumors speculated: “Specifically, the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) enforce strict guidelines regarding how speech and translation services can be provided. Regulators may wish to examine how Live Translation operates, along with its implications for privacy, consent, data flows, and user rights.”

The EU enforces more stringent technology regulations compared to other areas. For instance, Apple Intelligence features were initially prohibited in the EU but ultimately became accessible. It is reasonable to anticipate that EU users will eventually be granted access to Live Translation, though not in the immediate future.