Apple Delays EU Launch of Apple Intelligence Due to Antitrust Rules

Apple won’t be releasing Apple Intelligence and three other features in the EU in 2024. This is because of privacy concerns around the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The regulation requires services to be interoperable across platforms to promote competition and reduce the power of big companies like Apple.

The company says Apple Intelligence, iPhone Mirroring and SharePlay screen sharing will not be available to EU users. The interoperability requirements of the DMA pose a risk to user privacy and data security and Apple won’t compromise on that.

The DMA was introduced in 2023 to address the power of big tech companies like Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft and ByteDance (TikTok’s parent company). It requires fundamental features to work seamlessly across different devices and ecosystems. Although it mainly affects iPhones and iPads, Macs are also impacted because of iPhone Mirroring which allows iPhone screens to be mirrored on Mac screens.

Users may be disappointed Apple Intelligence won’t be available. This AI product had features like proofreading, custom emojis called Genmoji, searching specific messages, summarizing and transcribing calls, and highlighting priority notifications. Apple also announced a partnership with OpenAI and plans to add more models to the platform.

Despite the news Apple’s stock didn’t move much. In 2023 Apple made $94.3 billion in Europe which is almost a quarter of its global net sales. Apple also said Apple Intelligence won’t be available in Greater China which made $72.6 billion of its 2023 sales.

Apple will continue to work with the EU to find a way to deliver these features to EU users.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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by Asim BN via Digital Information World