Apple Pressures Europe for Regulatory Concessions
▼ Summary
– Apple has introduced a more useful AI-powered Siri, but it will not launch on iPhones and iPads in the European Union.
– Apple attributes the decision not to release the new Siri in the EU to the Digital Markets Act (DMA), a competition law.
– The DMA requires large tech platforms to give competitors the same data access they have, which Apple cites as the reason for withholding the update.
After years of incremental improvements, Apple has finally managed to make its AI feel genuinely useful. But for millions of iPhone users across Europe, that breakthrough is being held hostage by a transatlantic regulatory standoff. Apple is now telling those customers that the new AI-powered Siri will not launch on iPhones and iPads in the European Union, and the company is pointing the finger squarely at Brussels.
The culprit, according to Apple, is the Digital Markets Act (DMA). This landmark EU competition law is designed to prevent powerful tech companies from acting as gatekeepers over their own platforms, ensuring rivals get a fair shot. In practice, the DMA forces platforms to grant competitors the same level of data access that the platforms themselves enjoy. While there are limited exceptions for security and system integrity, Apple argues that the rules as written create an untenable environment for its latest AI features. The result is that a significant portion of the global iPhone market may never see the enhanced Siri experience at all, or at least not anytime soon.
(Source: The Verge)
