Regulatory concerns: No Apple Intelligence in the EU for now?
Last week at WWDC, Apple jumped on the AI bandwagon and introduced Apple Intelligence for iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia. However, it may not be available in the European Union at launch. According to Apple, there are regulatory concerns in the EU due to the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Accordingly, Apple Intelligence, iPhone Mirroring and SharePlay could be on hold in the EU for now.
“We are concerned that the interoperability requirements of the DMA could force us to compromise the integrity of our products in ways that risk user privacy and data security“.
Apple press department to Bloomberg
“Due to the regulatory uncertainties brought about by the Digital Markets Act, we do not believe that we will be able to roll out three of these [new] features — iPhone Mirroring, SharePlay Screen Sharing enhancements, and Apple Intelligence — to our EU users this year.“
Apple press department to the Financial Times
It is unclear how exactly Apple Intelligence, iPhone Mirroring and SharePlay Screen Sharing could violate the DMA. But Apple’s decision not to release the features in the EU for now would be a major blow. Hundreds of millions of Apple users in the EU would not get a taste of Apple’s latest software features and services.
There is still hope for EU customers, however. Apple has not yet made a final decision on release and is willing to work with the European Commission to find a solution.
“We are committed to collaborating with the European Commission in an attempt to find a solution that would enable us to deliver these features to our EU customers without compromising their safety“.
Apple spokesman Fred Sainz in a statement to The Verge
