Apple will not bring Apple Intelligence to the EU ‘due to regulatory uncertainties’ and data issues
The European Union may feel a little left out in September, when Apple is expected to release major Apple Intelligence and other updates to iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia.
It’s not that Apple doesn’t want to bring its own brand of artificial intelligence to European countries. Features like Math Notes in iPadOS, generative AI Genmojis, inline AI writing assistance, and generative image editing capabilities across multiple platforms wowed developers and eager iOS, iPadOS, and macOS customers when Apple unveiled them earlier this month at WWDC 2024 in California .
At the time, it was assumed that Apple Intelligence features would work in US English, but most thought this was a limitation of language capabilities and not one related to third-party restrictions.
However, now we know that Apple is unlikely to roll out iPhone Mirroring, Share Play, Screen Sharing improvements and especially Apple Intelligence to European users this year. The reason? The European law on digital markets.
Broadly speaking, the DMA is about ensuring that companies like Apple, Google, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft, which have significant market power, don’t abuse that control. In the eyes of the EU, Apple has abused its position, and last year the EU designated Apple as a gatekeeper and forced it to make platform-level changes, such as allowing third-party app stores to work with the iPhone.
Apple unfortunately complied, both in the EU and in its own way.
The EU’s actions have increased uncertainty for Apple and it appears that Apple is now preemptively holding back improvements to prevent further EU action.
Apple gave me this statement to explain it:
@techradar
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Two weeks ago, Apple unveiled hundreds of new features that we’re excited to bring to our users around the world. We are highly motivated to make these technologies accessible to all users. However, due to regulatory uncertainties resulting from the Digital Markets Act (DMA), we do not believe we will be able to roll out three of these features (iPhone Mirroring, SharePlay Screen Sharing improvements and Apple Intelligence) in our EU. users this year.
We are particularly concerned that the DMA’s interoperability requirements could force us to compromise the integrity of our products in a manner that compromises user privacy and data security. We aim to work with the European Commission in an effort to find a solution that allows us to deliver these features to our EU customers without compromising their security.
After all, it could be privacy
Not surprisingly, Apple is once again leaning on how it believes EU requirements could lead to reduced security and privacy for its consumers. Whether you buy that or not, there’s no doubt that Apple has prioritized data security and privacy when it comes to rolling out its first generative AI products. Apple Intelligence introduced the concept of a secure cloud or, more specifically, Private Cloud Compute, where Apple’s largest generative models will live. Apple doesn’t specify any difference between on-premises and cloud-based models, as it insists that data privacy and security (including anonymity and encryption) are exactly the same.
For example, if the EU were to require Apple to invite third-party cloud providers to partner with, or sometimes replace, the Private Cloud Compute, that could potentially lower or destroy that data protection.
Interestingly, the EU’s DMA only specifies Apple as a gatekeeper for iOS and iPadOS, but macOS is now part of the picture due to the new iPhone mirroring feature and the unusual update that lets you rotate your iPhone screen on your Mac . I’ve seen it and it’s a fascinating feature.
The book is not closed in this regard. Apple is still working with the EU to find a compromise and the parties may have reached an agreement by the time Apple Intelligence is released later this summer. However, it’s unlikely anything will happen in time for Apple’s iPhone Mirroring and Shareplay screen sharing updates, which Apple plans to release in beta on Monday (June 24).