Apple’s ambitious artificial intelligence efforts have hit a snag in Europe: After unveiling a slate of new AI features and software updates for iPhones, iPads and Macs earlier this month, the tech giant revealed that three of those features won’t be coming to EU users this year.
The delayed features are:
Phone Mirroring on macOS Sequoia: Allows iPhone users to mirror their phone screen and interact with it directly on their Mac computer.
SharePlay screen sharing enhancements: Improves the collaborative screen sharing experience within the SharePlay feature.
Apple Intelligence: Uses AI to generate text, images and different types of content based on user prompts. This feature was expected to be available on the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and on iPads and Macs with Apple’s M1 chip or later.
EU Digital Markets Law Raises Regulatory Concerns
Apple blames the delay on regulatory uncertainty caused by the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), which aims to promote competition and prevent big tech platforms from unfairly dominating the market, and introduces strict interoperability requirements.
“Specifically, we are concerned that the DMA’s interoperability requirements may force us to compromise the integrity of our products in ways that put our users’ privacy and data security at risk,” Apple said in a statement to Reuters.
The company has expressed concern that complying with the DMA’s interoperability obligations could create vulnerabilities that could put user data at risk.
Despite the delay, Apple stressed its efforts to find a solution that would allow it to offer these AI features without compromising the safety of its European customers, telling Reuters: “We are committed to working with the European Commission to find a solution that would allow us to offer these features without compromising the safety of our EU customers.”
