Apple’s AI features are not available in Europe, at least for now, due to regulatory concerns.
The company announced in a statement to European media on Friday that it would block the release of Apple Intelligence, iPhone Mirroring and SharePlay Screen Sharing to users in the European Union under the Digital Markets Act.
Read: iOS 18: 4 “Apple Intelligence” features that won’t arrive until 2025
“Specifically, we are concerned that the DMA’s interoperability requirements may force us to compromise the integrity of our products in ways that put users’ privacy and data security at risk,” Apple said in an email to The Guardian. The feature reportedly won’t be introduced in the EU until 2025.
At this year’s WWDC, Apple finally got on board with the AI trend, but in typical Apple fashion. The company named its technology Apple Intelligence and announced a slew of features, including notification prioritization, email drafts and summaries, automatic speech-to-text, and a new and improved Siri. Apple also announced ChatGPT integration with iOS 18. Throughout the event, Apple emphasized its commitment to privacy and data autonomy, saying that means running Apple Intelligence on a private cloud computing system and asking users for permission before proceeding with ChatGPT actions.
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The other two features delayed in the EU aren’t part of Apple Intelligence, but are related to device interoperability, or the lack of it if you don’t have an iPhone or a Mac. iPhone Mirroring is a new feature brought to you by the macOS Sequoia update that lets users control their iPhone screen from their desktop. SharePlay Screen Sharing is a FaceTime update that lets users control a remote device.
But the DMA sees big tech companies as “gatekeepers” who wield power through monopolistic practices. The bill, passed by the European Commission in 2022, aims to make the tech industry more competitive and fair by forcing companies to adhere to a strict set of rules, including not favoring their own products and services and allowing third-party interoperability by blocking the use of third-party apps.
Apple has been fighting back against the DMA, citing privacy and data security risks as reasons for its strict controls, such as banning alternative app stores and making Safari unremovable. However, the EU has no sympathy and has accused Apple of thwarting competition. Recently, it was reported that Apple may face heavy fines for not complying with EU law.
As a result, Apple is refraining from rolling out the AI features in the EU for now, leaving them unavailable to hundreds of millions of Apple users until the issues are resolved. “We are committed to working with the European Commission to find a solution that allows us to deliver these features without compromising the safety of our EU customers,” Apple’s statement said.
The European Commission told Apple that “gatekeepers are welcome to offer their services in Europe as long as they comply with rules aimed at ensuring fair competition.” It looks like the standoff will continue until the two sides reach a resolution. In the meantime, European Apple users will just have to wait.
Topics Apple Artificial Intelligence
