AI data protection: Apple is not bringing the new smart home display to the EU
Quick Look
- Apple is not launching its new HomeView smart home display in the EU because of a data protection dispute with the EU Commission over AI rivals' access to customer data.
- The device will initially only be launched in the USA, Great Britain, Australia, Canada, India and New Zealand.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Apple is engaged in a dispute with the EU Commission over whether it must give AI rivals equal access to user data under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Apple defends this with reference to data security and has subsequently not made its AI version of Siri available in the EU.
Due to a data protection dispute with the EU Commission, the AI version of Apple's voice assistant Siri on iPhone and iPad is not coming into the Union. Now Europeans are also missing out on a new Apple device.
Apple HomeView: Apple's new smart home display will not be launched in Europe for the time being. Photo: REUTERS
Dusseldorf. Apple is not launching its new smart home display in the EU because of the dispute over access to user data for AI rivals. The device called HomeView is intended to make it easier to control networked technology in the home, including via the Apple voice assistant Siri, which has been improved with artificial intelligence (AI). However, this AI Siri is not available on iPhone and iPad in the EU due to the controversy with the EU Commission.
The core of the dispute is AI rivals' access to Apple customer data. The Commission insists that, in accordance with the DMA (Digital Markets Act), Apple must give competitors equal access so as not to give advantage to its own product. The company rejects this, citing data security, and preferred not to bring the AI Siri into the European Union.
“Apple is working constructively with the EU to find a solution,” the company said in its HomeView announcement about the situation. The smart home display will initially only come onto the market in the USA, Great Britain, Australia, Canada, India and New Zealand.
The device can recognize up to six people in a household via the camera and personalize the information displayed accordingly. You can also use it to play music, start a timer or make video calls. Google and Amazon, rival providers of smart home platforms, have been offering similar display devices for years.
More: Low demand: Apple is probably reducing orders for iPhone components
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Open Questions
- When or if a solution will be found in the dispute between Apple and the EU Commission
- Whether Apple will withdraw further products in the future due to the DMA dispute in Europe
- How the lack of availability of HomeView affects the European smart home market
