Two US tech companies are reportedly facing new regulatory challenges in Europe.
One case involves Apple's App Store, while the other is 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 determining that the company is not complying with a requirement that app developers will allow users to direct offers available outside of Apple's App Store. Without charging them a fee. The FT report cited unidentified sources.
According to the report, if charges are indeed brought against Apple, it could be the first time the EC has done so under the recently enacted Digital Markets Act (DMA). 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 only received preliminary findings, that they may reevaluate any final decision if Apple changes its behavior, and that the timing of any decision could change.
Apple provided the FT with a statement that said: “We believe our plan complies with the DMA, and we will engage constructively with the European Commission as they conduct their investigation.”
As for Meta, it said in an update to an earlier blog post on Friday that it plans to launch its AI assistant, Meta, in Europe after the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) from European data protection authorities. Blocking AI's planned launch. (DPAs) asked it to delay training its large language models (LLMs) with content shared by adults on Meta's Facebook and Instagram platforms.
The company said in an update that it was “disappointed” by the request, that it had incorporated feedback from European DPAs and that the request marked “a step backwards for European innovation”.
“We're committed to bringing Meta AI, along with the models that power it, to as many people as possible around the world, including Europe,” Meta said in the update. “But, simply put, without adding local knowledge, we'll only be able to offer people a second-tier experience. That means we're not able to launch MetaAI in Europe right now.