Apple warns EU against forcing Google to open Android to AI competitors

Apple today submitted a filing to the European Commission criticizing proposed measures that would force Google to open-source parts of Android to compete with AI services. Here are the details.

Apple joins Google against EU-imposed Android changes

Last month, the European Commission proposed a series of measures intended to help Google comply with the regional Digital Markets Act (DMA).

Among them were proposed changes that would give competing AI services greater access to several Android features, allowing them to interact with installed apps to perform tasks such as sending emails, ordering food or sharing photos.

At the time, EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera said these “proposed measures would give Android users more choice over the AI services they use and integrate into their phones.” Google, meanwhile, called them an “unwarranted intervention” that would undermine “critical privacy and security protections for European users,” according to Reuters.

At the time, the European Commission gave third parties until today, May 13, to submit their comments. The Commission is expected to make its final decision in July on whether Google’s project complies with the DMA.

Today, Apple submitted its own comments, criticizing the EU’s proposed measures and warning that they could create risks “to privacy, security and safety.”

As reported Reuters:

“The DMs (proposed measures) raise urgent and serious concerns. If confirmed, they would create significant risks to user privacy, security and safety, as well as the integrity and performance of devices,” Apple said in its document.

“These risks are particularly acute in the context of rapidly evolving AI systems whose capabilities, behaviors and threat vectors remain unpredictable, as we see time and time again,” he said.

Apple also reportedly claimed that the European Commission was trying to redesign Android based on “less than three months of work”, replacing decisions made by Google’s own engineers during years of development of the operating system.

To read Reuters‘ full report, follow this link.