And yet Apple ci he tried to be in order. Despite efforts to comply with new European regulations, the European Commission recently started a new investigation towards the Cupertino giant which sounds like a rejection of its efforts. After one record fine for abuse of a dominant position in the music streaming market among iOS users, the EU Antitrust has now expressed its preliminary opinion that the App Store rules violate the Digital Markets Act (Dma). The rules would prevent app developers from freely directing consumers to alternative channels for offers and content. Furthermore, the Commission has also initiated a non-compliance procedure against Apple, concerned that new contractual requirements for third-party app developers and app stores, including Apple's new Core Technology Fee, fail to ensure effective compliance with the DMA.
In the meantime, to avoid future problems with the EU Antitrust, Apple has decided to postpone the introduction of its artificial intelligence in the European market. However, the Apple company, in the meantime, does not stop and is trying to regain ground in the sector. According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple is in talks with Meta Platforms to integrate Meta's artificial intelligence models into the new operating system.
EU antitrust: Apple Store violates the digital market
According to the EU Antitrust, therefore, Apple's App Store rules violate European Union technology regulations because they prevent app developers from direct consumers towards alternative offers. If confirmed, this accusation could result in a heavy fine for the Cupertino company. Violations of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) can result in fines of up to 10% of a company's global annual revenue.
The European Commission sent its preliminary findings to Apple after ainvestigation launched in March. The executive underlined three commercial conditions of the company that do not allow developers to freely orient their customers. For example, developers are not allowed to provide pricing information within applications or communicate with customers to promote alternative offers.
The EU antitrust chief, Margrethe Vestager, criticized Apple's new terms, saying they do not allow app developers to freely communicate with their users and enter into contracts with them.
The Commission found that Apple only allows management via “link-out”, where developers can redirect customers to a web page to conclude contracts. Furthermore, he criticized Apple's fees to facilitate the acquisition of new customers, considering them excessive. The EU is also opening an investigation into Apple's new contractual requirements for third-party app developers and app stores, assessing whether they are necessary and proportionate.
The EU's decision to continue with an investigation was a cold shower for Apple, which was hoping for a compromise already reached.
Apple responded by stating that it had made a number of changes to comply with the DMA, based on feedback received from developers and the Commission. “We are confident that our plan complies with the law and estimate that more than 99% of developers would pay the same or less in fees to Apple under the new business terms we created,” the company said in an email .
The game is still to be played and Cupertino will have to make new efforts to satisfy Brussels' requests. The Antitrust will have until March 2025 to issue a final decision.
Apple Intelligence: Cupertino postpones the introduction of AI in Europe
Precisely to avoid future problems, Apple has announced the postponement of the introduction of his new artificial intelligence capabilities in Europe. The decision was made due to “regulatory uncertainties” that could compromise the integrity of Apple products and the security of user data.
Apple had planned to launch a series of new features AI, including ChatGPT integration, an improved Siri and genmoji, with the upcoming iOS 18 update. These features will therefore not be available, at least through 2024, for European users due to interoperability requirements of the DMA, which require greater openness and transparency in the practices of large technological platforms. “We don't think we'll be able to implement these features for our EU users this year,” a company spokesperson said.
Cupertino said it fears that the DMA's requirements could force the company to compromise user privacy and security. The problem seems to lie in ChatGPT integration in the operating system: In the United States, the popular OpenAI AI can be used without an account and without age verification, which is not possible in the European Union states. The idea was that Apple could separate the two versions of iOS 18, allowing European users to access ChatGPT via Siri by entering their account details for verification. However, this would paradoxically made conversations less private compared to the system created by Apple, called Private Cloud Compute. This issue would therefore be the reason behind the postponement of Apple Intelligence.
Apple is, however, committed to collaborate with the European Commission to find a solution that allows you to provide these features without risking data security.
Artificial intelligence: Apple is negotiating new possible collaborations
Apple, meanwhile, does not want to miss the artificial intelligence train and after the partnership with OpenAi, is discussing other possible collaborations. According to what was reported by Wall Street Journal, Apple stands negotiating with Meta, Google, anthropic e Perplexity for integrate their technologies of artificial intelligence within Apple Intelligence. Although these negotiations are not yet concluded, they could represent an opportunity for Apple to broaden the range of AI features offered to its users.
This move would represent a significant turning point for Apple, which it has traditionally maintained a closed ecosystem and strictly controlled. Integrating third-party AI models could strengthen Apple's position in the technology market by offering users a broader and more diverse range of AI capabilities. Collaborations that also lift concerns about privacy and data security, topics to which Apple has always paid great attention. The success of these agreements will depend on Cupertino's ability to balance technological innovation with the protection of user data.
