Apple and Meta Opt Out of EU's AI Pact, Diverging from Tech Giants

Apple rejects new AI pact in EU, despite support from OpenAI, Google, more - 9to5Mac

EU users hoping for good news on the Apple Intelligence front -- look away. Apple's ongoing dispute with EU governing authorities over a variety of issues, including AI, has found its latest story. Per Politico, a new AI pact put forward by the EU has gained prominent signatories like OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft. But Apple is a holdout. Apple has said it is "engaged" with regulatory bodies in the EU to bring Apple Intelligence features to EU users. However, this latest move by the company makes clear that things aren't looking too hopeful. Notably, the new AI pact put forward was agreed to by 115 different companies. Many of them are among the biggest AI players in the global market. Here's a sampling of companies that have agreed to the EU's AI pact: There are two major holdouts, however. Not only Apple, but also Meta has chosen not to sign. Pieter Haeck and Mathieu Pollet write for Politico: A European Union initiative to speed up measures to control artificial intelligence got off to a rocky start on Wednesday as technology giants Meta and Apple passed up on joining the pledge. [...] All companies and industries will have to comply with rules listed in the Pact under the EU's AI Act, which is rolled out in stages in coming years. The goal of the voluntary Pact was to get companies to comply early with the AI Act rules. Apple and Meta seem like frenemies at best when it comes to a host of other matters. But apparently they hold the same stance regarding this new pact. I hope Apple is able to find a way to bring AI features to its EU users. It will be bad for the company and its customers if a resolution doesn't arrive at some point. The staggered rollout of Apple Intelligence features means there's not quite as much pressure on the company to make a deal soon. However, it will be interesting to see if the lack of AI makes an impact on iPhone 16 sales in EU nations. What are your views on Apple bringing AI to the EU? Let us know in the comments.

Apple And Meta Hold Back On Signing The New EU AI Pact, Making Apple Intelligence A Distant Dream For Users In The Region

Apple Intelligence is one of the best aspects of the iPhone 16 models that launched earlier this month and it appears that the service might not be coming to EU after all. EU has been giving Apple a hard time lately with all of its laws and initiatives and it is becoming hard for the company to comply with all of them. A new AI Pact has been put forth that asks companies to prepare for the new AI rules coming in the EU region, and Apple has not signed the agreement as of yet, according to Per Politico. The AI Pact asks companies to comply with the AI rules in the region and while a plethora of companies including Google and Microsoft have signed or agreed to the terms, Apple and Meta are reluctant to do so. If the companies do not sign the agreement, it would become hard for them to offer their AI services in the region. If you are not familiar, the EU AI Pact asks companies to: Apple says that it is already working with the regulatory authorities in the EU to bring Apple Intelligence to the region, but the latest decision does not give a good sign at all. Currently, 115 companies have signed the new AI Pact in the EU, including Adobe, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, Samsung, Snap, and many more. Meta has taken the same stance as Apple in this regard, which could mean that Meta AI would not be coming to the EU as well, if the company does not comply with the laws. A European Union initiative to speed up measures to control artificial intelligence got off to a rocky start on Wednesday as technology giants Meta and Apple passed up on joining the pledge. All companies and industries will have to comply with rules listed in the Pact under the EU's AI Act, which is rolled out in stages in coming years. The goal of the voluntary Pact was to get companies to comply early with the AI Act rules. So far, it does not seem that Apple and Meta will be able to offer Apple Intelligence and Meta AI in the EU, unless both companies decide to sign the pact. The iPhone 16 is a major upgrade, but most of its upgrades are tied to the forthcoming AI features ad if it does not meet the cut, there is little to no reason to upgrade to the latest models. The iPhone's software would hold back sales in the region and it would reflect in the company's overall revenue. Do you think Apple would sign the AI Pact in the EU?

Apple, Meta ignore EU's AI control initiative for the moment

The EU's AI Pact has a lot of big-name tech companies pledging to develop AI in a safe way, but Apple and Meta are the two outliers who aren't getting involved. The European Commission announced on Wednesday that it had secured over a hundred signatures from companies signing up to the EU Artificial Intelligence Pact. Made up of voluntary pledges, the pact asks companies to work to ensure that AI is safe and produced in a responsible way. The list of companies taking part in the pact includes quite a few major names, including Adobe, Google, IBM, HP, Qualcomm, Microsoft, and Open Ai, the creator of ChatGPT. However, that list doesn't include two major names in AI: Apple and Meta. Apple has yet to say why it hasn't joined the pact, but Meta already has. Meta told Politico that it won't "rule out our joining the AI Pact at a later stage." Meta went on to say it welcomes "harmonized EU rules and are focusing on our compliance work under the AI Act at this time." Meta adds "We also shouldn't lose sight of AI's huge potential to foster European innovation and enable competition, or else the EU will miss out on this one-in-a-generation opportunity." The AI Pact is a set of voluntary pledges that a company can sign up to undertake with regard to AI development and operation. There are three core pledges to be undertaken, including creating an AI governance strategy to work towards future compliance with the AI Act, a legal framework for AI. Companies also should identify AI systems that could be categorized as "high-risk" under the AI Act. Firms must also promote AI literacy and awareness among staff to ensure the ethical and responsible development of AI technologies. Pact signees can also take on other extra pledges, including ensuring human oversight, the mitigation of risk, and transparent labeling of certain AI-generated content, such as deepfakes. More than half of the signees committed to the additional pledges. So far, Apple's AI development has been relatively slow compared to the rest of the industry. It is, however, getting close to bringing out its Apple Intelligence suite of improvements to iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia. As for Apple's efforts to make development of AI safer, it has already included rules in its AI to minimize the chance of hallucinations when answering prompts. Its creations also enshrine privacy for users, such as only performing off-device processing on servers using secure elements that include end-to-end encryption. Apple has also signed up to adhere to voluntary AI safeguards, agreeing to a presidential executive order that deals with safety, minimizing risk, and establishing best practices for security. Even so, despite not having its signature on the list, Apple could still sign up for the EU's AI Pact in the future. That future may be a bit far away given the current spat between the EU and Apple over the Digital Markets Act. Apple said it wouldn't bring Apple Intelligence to the EU because of the DMA's limitations. The EU took the refusal to be a "stunning declaration" of anti-competitiveness.