Apple will not be rolling out AI features to European users by 2024. According to Apple, the European Digital Markets Act (DMA) hinders the guarantee of user privacy.
This month, Apple proposed its own interpretation of AI under the name Apple Intelligence. In a nutshell, the company does not want to approach AI from a set of tools, but the technology will be woven into every application the user already uses today. The added AI will then use all the data available about the device user to provide the most personalized AI assistant possible.
The whole thing is inextricably linked to privacy at Apple. Apple does not want the user to buy off AI offerings with his or her personal data. This is prevented by leaving AI tasks that can be performed locally to the hardware, which means the data does not leave the device. For extensive tasks, the workloads become too large for the hardware. In these cases, Apple has found a solution in the offering of its own cloud, the Apple Private Cloud. This cloud would function as a “black box,” shielded from cloud providers as well as Apple.
In addition, AI features were promised through a partnership with OpenAI. As a result, Apple users would have access to the intelligence of the GPT-LLMs.
Also read: Apple and Meta bury the hatchet to consider an AI partnership
‘Privacy may be compromised’
The previously announced release dates for the features now appear not to apply to the European market. It is unclear which delay is provisioned, but Apple says it will not be launched in Europe in 2024.
The company says it is running into difficulties with the DMA. “We are concerned that the integrity of our products could be harmed by the DMA. This could lead to users’ privacy and data being compromised,” Apple says.
This set of rules was put in place to curb the power of Big Tech, giving smaller players a fair chance. It is notable, however, that Apple sees potential risks to privacy, while the DMA was just designed to ensure user privacy better. According to Apple, however, the regulations surrounding interoperability would cause problems. The law should also give alternative platforms a fair chance, where Big Tech now mainly promotes its own products to its users.
The same legislation also tied Apple in knots for the App Store, requiring it to offer payment options through third-party platforms for in-app purchases and making sideloading an option. There, the company cited that the legislation would damage App Store security. Apple tried to comply with the legislation through its own process anyway, but the European Commission recently ruled that the interpretation was not legal. For Apple, in other words, another billion-dollar fine from Europe awaits.
Read also: Apple makes sideloading more dangerous than necessary to favour its App Store