Apple is hitting the brakes on its “Apple Intelligence” operations in Europe, the company said on Friday. Citing government regulations, Apple said it would not roll out several new features, including a suite of AI tools it will soon produce in the European Union.
Earlier this month, Apple unveiled a wide range of AI-powered features and services at its annual WWDC conference. They bring AI enhancements to the product line dubbed as “Apple Intelligence”. Apple has announced that it has partnered with OpenAI to offer its flagship AI model, ChatGPIT, as an opt-in feature in the Siri virtual assistant.
According to a report from the Financial Times, Apple has announced that new EU antitrust rules will stop AI enhancements and certain iPhone features, including iPhone Mirroring and SharePlay screen sharing. The decision could affect millions of users and future hardware sales.
“Due to regulatory uncertainties arising from the Digital Markets Act, we do not believe we will be able to release three of these features to our EU users this year,” Apple told the newspaper on Friday.
“We are concerned that the DMA interoperability requirements may force us to compromise the integrity of our products in a way that threatens user privacy and data security,” Apple reported in Bloomberg.
The DMA, originally due in 2022, is an EU regulation intended to ensure fair and competitive digital markets. The action targets so-called “gatekeepers” that identify large digital platforms such as search engines and apps.
The law imposes certain obligations, prohibitions and penalties on companies and aims to address conflicts of interest and level the playing field for European companies. According to the DMA, a violation of the act will result in a fine of up to 10% of the offending company's global annual revenue, or up to 20% for repeat violations.
Apple in 2010 It has amassed global sales of more than $380 billion by 2023.
For consumers, the Digital Markets Act includes several provisions, including giving users the right to download apps from competing app stores, the right to decide whether companies can use users' data across services, and disallowing tracking and profiling of personalized ads.
In the year In 2023, rumors started circulating that Apple would allow third-party app stores to enforce the DM on its products, a move that some cybersecurity experts said would put users at risk.
“If Apple allows sideloading of apps, the downside is the presence of malicious developers releasing legitimate-looking apps to steal user data,” David Schwed of blockchain security firm Halborn told Decrypt.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Decrypt.
Edited by Ryan Ozawa.
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