EU competition chief criticizes Apple from both sides over AI delay

It must be said that the European Commission and Apple are not really good friends. The two sides are at odds over Apple’s compliance – or lack of compliance – with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), a law designed to limit the power of big tech companies.

Apple is reportedly delaying the rollout of some features in the European Union, including AI tools, due to concerns “that the DMA’s interoperability requirements could require us to compromise the integrity of our products in a way that would jeopardize users’ privacy and data security.” It turns out the EU isn’t exactly happy with that decision.

The call to delay the deployment of Apple Intelligence in the EU is a “staggering and open statement that they know 100% that this is another way to disable competition where they already have a bastion,” EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said at a forum. Europa event, according to . Vestager added that the “short version of the DMA” means that companies must be open to competition to continue operating in the region.

The European Commission is currently conducting several investigations into the company for possible violations of the DMA. This week, it was accused of violating the law’s anti-referral provisions by preventing app developers from freely informing users about alternative payment options outside the company’s ecosystem. If found guilty, Apple could be fined up to 10% of its global annual revenue. Based on its 2023 sales, that could amount to a penalty of up to $38 billion. The percentage of the fine can double in case of repeated violations.

Earlier this year, before the DMA came into force, the European Commission fined Apple for violating previous anti-steering rules. According to the Commission, Apple prevented competing music streaming apps from telling users that they could pay less for subscriptions if they signed up outside of iOS apps.