Apple’s App Store, AI Assistant Meta faces challenges in Europe

Two US tech giants are reportedly facing new regulatory challenges in Europe.

One case involves Apple’s App Store, while the other focuses on Meta’s artificial intelligence (AI) assistant, Meta AI.

The Financial Times (FT) reported on Friday (June 14) that the European Commission (EC) will bring charges against Apple after ruling that the company is not complying with a requirement that allows app developers to direct users to offers available outside the App Store. of Apple without charging them fees. The FT report cited unnamed sources.

If charges are in fact brought against Apple, it could be the first time the EC has done so under the recently implemented Digital Markets Act (DMA), according to the report. The EC said in March that it was using its powers under the DMA to investigate Apple, Alphabet and Meta.

The report added that regulators have made only preliminary findings, that they may reevaluate any final decision if Apple changes its practices, and that the timing of any decision could change.

Apple provided the FT with a statement saying: “We are confident that our plan complies with the DMA and we will continue to engage constructively with the European Commission as they carry out their investigations.”

As for Meta, it said in a Friday update to an earlier blog post that it is halting the planned launch of its AI assistant, Meta AI, in Europe after the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), on behalf of European data protection authorities. (DPAs), asked her to delay training her large language models (LLM) with content shared by adults on Meta’s Facebook and Instagram platforms.

The company said in the update that it was “disappointed” by the request, that it included feedback from European DPAs and that the request marks “a step backwards for European innovation”.

“We are committed to bringing Meta AI, along with the models that power it, to more people around the world, including Europe,” Meta said in the update. “But, simply put, without including local information, we would only be able to offer people a second-rate experience. This means we are unable to launch Meta AI in Europe at this time.”