Apple has become the first major tech company to be accused of breaking new EU rules. Digital Marketplace RulesJust three days ago, the tech giant said it would not release artificial intelligence in the bloc due to regulation.
On Monday, the European Commission said Apple’s App Store prevents developers from communicating with their users and promoting offers directly to them, a practice known as anti-steering.
“Our initial position is that Apple absolutely does not allow steering. Steering is important to ensure that app developers are less dependent on the gatekeeper’s App Store and that consumers are aware of better offers,” EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.
On X, Thierry Breton, the European commissioner for the internal market, gave a more scathing assessment. He said, “For too long Apple has been crowding out innovative companies – depriving consumers of new opportunities and choices.”
The EU on Monday referred to its allegations as:preliminary findingsApple now has the opportunity to respond to the allegations and if no settlement is reached, the bloc has the power to impose a fine – which could be up to 10 percent of the company’s global turnover before March 2025.
Tensions between Apple and the EU have been growing for several months. Brussels launched an investigation against the smartphone maker march for failure to comply with the bloc’s competition rules. Although investigations were also launched into Meta and Google-parent Alphabet, Brussels has long been focused on Apple’s relationship with European developers.
In March, one of the MEPs negotiating the Digital Markets Act told Wired He said Apple was the logical first target for the new rules, describing the company as an “easy-to-reach company.” Under the DMA, it is illegal for big tech companies to prioritise their own services over those of rivals.
Developers are angry about the new business terms imposed on them by Apple. Description of The company’s policies were described as “abusive”, “extortionate” and “extremely punitive”.
Apple spokesman Rob Saunders said Monday that he was confident the company was complying with the law. “All developers doing business on the App Store in the EU have the opportunity to use the capabilities we’ve introduced, including the ability to direct app users to the web to complete a purchase at a very competitive rate,” he said.
On Friday, Apple said it would not release its artificial intelligence feature in the EU this year, due to what the company described as “regulatory uncertainties.” “Specifically, we are concerned that the DMA’s interoperability requirements could force us to compromise the integrity of our products, which could put user privacy and data security at risk,” Saunders said in a statement. The features affected are iPhone mirroring, SharePlay screen sharing enhancements, and Apple’s first foray into generative AI, Apple Intelligence,
Apple is not the only company that is blaming the new EU rules for the delay in releasing new features. Last year, Google also blamed the EU rules for the delay in releasing new features. Delayed The EU launched its ChatGPT rival Bard, and earlier in June Meta Stalled plans to train its AI on personal Facebook and Instagram data of Europeans after discussions with privacy regulators. “This is a step back for European innovation, competition in AI development and a further delay in delivering the benefits of AI to people in Europe,” the company said at the time.
