Jobs’ Mob has postponed deploying AI features within iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia across the European Union. The delay, attributed to the stringent stipulations of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), signals a significant pivot in the company's rollout plans.
The firm has opted to withhold the introduction of “Apple Intelligence," iPhone Mirroring on Mac, and SharePlay Screen Sharing functionalities within Europe for the current year.
The Tame Apple press has rushed to defend its favourite company, saying that the delay was proof of what Apple has been saying about the evil DMA for ages. Basically, if big US tech companies were not allowed to form monopolies, take European money, and close European businesses, “innovation” would suffer.
The DMA, enacted in 2022, was crafted to engender a more equitable competitive landscape by curtailing the dominance of large technology conglomerates. The legislation's core objective is to thwart such corporations from stifling nascent competitors by preferentially promoting their services, sequestering customer data within their ecosystems, and obscuring the mechanics of advertising data usage.
This is not the inaugural instance of Jobs’ Mob attributing feature restrictions for its European clientele to regulatory constraints. The company retracted the functionality that allowed the addition of web apps to the home screen, citing DMA regulations, only to reverse this decision later.
Google, too, has mirrored this approach, excising third-party applications and watch faces from European gadgets in response to "new regulatory requirements."
The postponement emerges amid heightened scrutiny from EU regulators. In March, the European Commission initiated a formal probe into Jobs’ Mob with the prospect of levying DMA violation charges.
Earlier in the year, the company was slapped with a hefty €1.8 billion fine for obstructing app developers from notifying iOS users about more economical music subscription alternatives outside of its ecosystem.
These unfolding events underscore the escalating friction between Jobs’ Mob and EU watchdogs, spotlighting the quandaries faced by big tech as it tries to escape regulations in its quest to make the big bucks.