European Union competition chief Margrethe Vestager said Apple's decision to delay the launch of its AI features in the EU was a “shocking and open declaration” of anti-competitive behaviour.
Vestager was asked to comment on Apple's recent AI announcements at Forum Europe. Here's what she had to say…
Apple announced that they will not be releasing any new AI-enabled features in the IRS environment. The reason is because of their European obligation, and their European obligation is to open up to competition. This is like a shortened version of the DMA, and I think it's very interesting that they're saying they're going to deploy AI in places where they have no obligation to allow competition. I think this is the most amazing and open declaration that shows they're 100% aware that this is another way to kill competition in places where they already have an advantage.
Apple revealed its decision to withhold AI tech from Europe after announcing a range of new AI features for iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS 15 at WWDC 2024 last week.
“We are concerned that the DMA's interoperability requirements could compromise the integrity of our products in ways that put users' privacy and data security at risk,” Apple said in a statement.
The announcement comes following the EU's preliminary decision that Apple had violated digital market law, pending further investigation.
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