Apple's war with the EU heats up with new antitrust charges and an AI threat

Tim Cook, chief executive officer of Apple Inc., during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference at Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California, US, on Monday, June 10, 2024. (Credit: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg—Getty Images)

As predicted earlier this month, Apple has become the first firm to face preliminary charges under the European Union’s new Digital Markets Act, a blockbuster package of antitrust rules for Big Tech.

Interestingly, this isn’t about the contentious “core technology fee” that companies like Microsoft and Meta say Apple is using to stymie the development of third-party app stores on iOS. The DMA forces Apple to allow such app stores on its mobile platform, but developers taking this option must pay Apple a $0.54 fee for every first installation of their apps.