EU Competition Commissioner says Apple’s decision to pull AI from EU shows anticompetitive behavior

4 months ago 20

Apple’s decision not to launch its own artificial intelligence (AI) features in the EU is a “stunning declaration” of its anticompetitive behavior, European Commission Vice-President Margrethe Vestager said on Thursday (27 June).

About a week ago, Apple announced it will not launch its homegrown AI features in the EU, saying that interoperability required by the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) could hurt user privacy and security. A few days later, the Commission accused Apple’s App Store of DMA breaches.

Apple’s move to roll back its AI plans in Europe is the most “stunning, open declaration that they know 100% that this is another way of disabling competition where they have a stronghold already,” Vestager, the Commission’s vice president for a Europe fit for the digital age and Commissioner for Competition, told a Forum Europa event.

The “short version of the DMA [Digital Markets Act]” is that to operate in Europe, companies have to be open for competition, said Vestager.

The DMA foresees fines of up to 10% of annual revenue, which in Apple’s case could be over €30 billion, based on its previous financial performance. For repeated infringements, that percentage could double.

Apple has faced three DMA investigations. Under the DMA, Apple is a “gatekeeper,” meaning it has to make sure it does not stifle competition.

Newer versions of Apple’s operating systems, compatible with many of the company’s devices, will come with Apple Intelligence, as well as an integration of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the California company said on June 10.

The AI features will, for example, be embedded in voice assistant Siri to help with queries and tasks. The features are to be rolled out in beta later this year.

Apple Intelligence will not be a standalone chatbot, like ChatGPT, and will instead be used through a suite of apps, Wired wrote based on a demo.

A lack of interoperability with non-Apple apps could be construed as an anti-competitive behaviour.

Apple’s AI is also distintictively vertically integrated, with both hardware and software custom made by the company.

Some of the computing will take place on Apple’s newly-launched Private Cloud Compute, which runs on custom-built servers in the company’s own data center, which Apple says can enhance privacy.

[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic]