Quick Summary
Apple has announced that it will suspend the rollout of Apple Intelligence in the EU while it determines whether it can comply with the Digital Markets Act.
Apple’s 2024 iPhones will therefore likely launch in EU countries without the new AI features.
Apple will soon enter the AI fray, when it introduces some elements of its Apple Intelligence technology suite this autumn – as part of the launch of the iPhone 16. However, it seems not everyone will be getting them.
The company has announced that it will hold back Apple Intelligence features from Europe, along with other technologies announced during WWDC.
That’s because it claims that the EU’s Digital Markets Act, which was introduced earlier this year, is incompatible with its plans for AI integration.
“Due to the regulatory uncertainties brought about by the DMA, we do not believe that we will be able to roll out three of these features – iPhone Mirroring, SharePlay Screen Sharing enhancements, and Apple Intelligence – to our EU users this year,” Apple said in a statement (via the Financial Times).
“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,” it added (via Bloomberg).
Apple Intelligence tools are largely personalised to each iPhone user and processed on the device or in the cloud on Apple’s own data hubs. However, the Digital Markets Act forces companies to share data with third-parties and prevents them from favouring their own services above rivals.
This, says Apple, could conflict with the security and privacy requirements needed for its AI toolset. It has therefore taken the decision to delay the roll out of Apple Intelligence in all EU member states. And that means the iPhone 16 released in Germany or France, for example, will not launch with the same features available elsewhere.
As things stand, the UK could be exempt from the decision – it is no longer a member of the EU, after all. But the UK did pass a similar bill last month, shortly before Parliament was prorogued for the forthcoming General Election.
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill has many of the same traits of the DMA, and is also through to force Apple to allow some third-party services to offer their own app stores on devices.
We await to see if it will also affect the roll out of Apple Intelligence in the country. We’ve contacted Apple to find out, and will update accordingly.