Competition regulation Archives | Page 2 of 118

Apple may be preparing a major Siri AI shake-up in iOS 27

Apple is reportedly preparing a major expansion of Apple Intelligence that could allow users to choose which AI model powers Siri and other system features. According to recent reports, iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27 may introduce a new ‘Extensions’ framework designed to integrate third-party AI systems directly into Apple’s software ecosystem.

The reported feature would allow applications such as Gemini and Claude to connect with Siri through their App Store apps. Users may be able to select different AI providers for different tasks, while Apple is also said to be testing separate Siri voices for responses generated by external models rather than Apple’s own systems.

The move would expand Apple’s broader AI partnership strategy rather than replace existing integrations. ChatGPT already supports selected Apple Intelligence functions, and earlier reporting suggested Google Gemini could eventually power parts of Siri itself. The new framework appears aimed at turning Apple devices into a wider AI platform that supports multiple large language models rather than a single assistant stack.

Apple is expected to present further details during its Worldwide Developers Conference on 8 June 2026. If the reported changes materialise, they could significantly reshape how users interact with AI assistants by giving them more control over which models handle tasks such as search, writing, and image generation.

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European Commission publishes first Digital Markets Act review

The European Commission has published its first formal review of the Digital Markets Act, assessing how the regulation is affecting the behaviour of large online platforms in the EU digital economy. According to the review, the law has produced visible changes in some areas, while also exposing continuing problems in implementation and enforcement.

The review points to changes in user choice since the DMA entered into force in March 2024. These include support for third-party app stores and prompts on devices to select browsers or search engines, alongside reported increases in usage and downloads of alternative services.

Enforcement action is also a central part of the assessment. In April 2025, Apple was fined €500 million for blocking developers from directing users to cheaper purchasing options, while Meta was fined €200 million over its ‘consent or pay’ model. Both companies are appealing the decisions.

At the same time, the review identifies clear implementation challenges. It says investigations are taking around twice as long as the 12-month target, while legal procedures are being used to slow compliance. It also raises broader questions about whether fast-growing areas such as AI tools and cloud platforms should eventually be brought within the scope of the regulation.

The Digital Markets Act is therefore presented less as a completed intervention than as an ongoing regulatory process. The review suggests that its long-term impact will depend not only on the rules already in force, but also on how consistently they are enforced and how the EU responds to changes in digital markets.

Why does it matter?

The review matters because it shows that the real test of the Digital Markets Act is no longer whether the EU can write rules for large platforms, but whether it can enforce them quickly and adapt them to new market realities. Early changes in user choice suggest the law is starting to affect platform behaviour. However, delays in investigations and questions around AI and cloud services show that the regulatory contest is still evolving.

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European Parliament set to push for faster Digital Markets Act compliance proceedings

Ahead of the review of the Digital Markets Act, the European Parliament is set to call for faster compliance proceedings and closer scrutiny of AI-driven search tools and cloud services.

In a draft resolution, MEPs are expected to urge the Commission to enforce the Digital Markets Act quickly and consistently, while adapting to technological change without reopening the law’s core objectives.

The text highlights the growing strategic importance of cloud computing services and the rising use of AI-driven search tools, arguing that both require closer scrutiny under the Digital Markets Act framework.

MEPs also warn against external political pressure aimed at weakening the law. They are expected to call on the Commission to make full use of its enforcement tools, including periodic penalty payments, to stop companies from bypassing it, regardless of where they are based.

The Digital M a rkets Act sets obligations for the largest digital companies providing key platform services in the EU, with the aim of supporting fair competition in digital markets. The draft resolution comes after the Commission’s first non-compliance decisions and fines under the law, including action against Meta over its ‘pay or consent’ advertising model and against Apple over anti-steering obligations.

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European Commission review finds Digital Markets Act strengthening competition and user choice

The European Commission has concluded that the Digital Markets Act remains effective in shaping fairer and more competitive digital markets across Europe. Its first formal review highlights measurable progress in empowering users and opening digital ecosystems to greater competition.

DMA has strengthened user choice by enabling data portability, alternative browser and search engine selection, and clearer consent over how personal data is used. At the same time, it has facilitated increased interoperability, allowing new entrants such as alternative app stores and messaging services to emerge.

The review also notes that businesses are benefiting from improved access to previously restricted ecosystems, particularly in areas such as connected devices and platform integration. These changes are contributing to a more dynamic and innovative digital environment.

Looking ahead, the Commission identifies AI and cloud computing as key areas for further regulatory focus. Continued enforcement, improved transparency and adaptation to emerging technological trends will be essential to fully realise the DMA’s objectives.

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EU pushes Android changes to open AI competition

The European Commission has outlined draft measures requiring Google to improve interoperability on Android as part of ongoing proceedings under the Digital Markets Act. Regulators are focusing on how third-party AI services can interact with hardware and software features controlled by the Android operating system.

The proposed measures are intended to give competing AI services access to key Android features already used by Google’s own AI services, including Gemini. In practice, that could allow rival services to support actions such as sending messages, sharing content, or completing tasks through user-preferred applications rather than being limited by Google’s default ecosystem.

The Commission’s approach could also make it easier for users to activate alternative AI assistants through customised interactions and device-level features, reducing dependence on default system tools. The broader aim is to give third-party providers a more equal opportunity to innovate and compete in the fast-moving market for AI services on mobile devices.

Feedback on the proposed measures is being gathered as part of the Commission’s specification proceedings under the DMA. The consultation forms part of a wider regulatory effort to enforce fair access to core platform features and strengthen digital competition across European markets, including in the AI sector.

Why does it matter?

The move targets one of the most important control points in the digital economy: the operating system layer. Opening Android features to competing AI services could reduce the structural advantage held by Google and shift power towards a more competitive, multi-provider mobile ecosystem. This is an inference based on the Commission’s stated objective of giving third-party AI services access equivalent to that available to Google’s own AI tools.

Greater interoperability under the Digital Markets Act could reshape how AI reaches users, turning smartphones into more open platforms rather than tightly controlled default environments. At the same time, the case also shows how strongly the EU is trying to apply competition law to the next phase of AI distribution, not only to search, app stores, and browsers.

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New Chinese rules restrict digital promotion of financial products

China has introduced new online marketing rules for financial products, further tightening its long-standing restrictions on cryptocurrency-related activity. The new framework limits the promotion of financial products to licensed entities and treats digital currency trading and issuance as illegal financial activity.

Issued by the People’s Bank of China and seven other regulators, the Administrative Measures for Online Marketing of Financial Products will take effect on 30 September 2026. The rules extend responsibility to platforms, intermediaries, and content creators who promote or facilitate financial products online.

Any assistance in promoting or facilitating prohibited financial activity may now be treated as participation in illegal finance, expanding enforcement beyond direct trading bans. In practice, that broadens the focus from financial products themselves to the wider digital promotion layer, including online displays, traffic generation, and other forms of internet-based marketing support.

Authorities say the measures are intended to protect consumers by limiting misleading or aggressive online promotion, including livestream marketing and viral investment content. In that sense, the rules are not only about crypto, but about tighter control over how financial products are marketed in digital environments.

The policy also reinforces China’s existing position, dating back to 2021, when regulators declared all cryptocurrency transactions illegal, while pushing enforcement deeper into the digital advertising and distribution layers of financial markets.

Why does it matter?

Stronger oversight of online financial promotion shows that crypto-related advertising is increasingly being treated as a regulatory risk category, not just a marketing issue. The Chinese move also points to a broader trend in which regulators are extending scrutiny beyond financial products themselves to the digital channels, influencers, and platforms that help distribute them.

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UK reviews mobile market as nationwide standalone 5G target approaches

The UK government has launched a call for evidence on the future of the mobile sector, seeking to determine whether the current regulatory and market framework can deliver nationwide standalone 5G coverage in populated areas by 2030. Led by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, the review focuses on how policy can better support investment, innovation, competition, resilience, and consumer outcomes in a rapidly changing telecoms market.

The exercise reflects growing concern that the economics of mobile deployment are becoming more difficult, even as expectations for connectivity continue to rise. In the call for evidence, the government notes that mobile operators are facing higher deployment costs, growing data demand, uncertain long-term returns, and pressure to modernise networks to keep pace with new technologies.

At the same time, it argues that mobile infrastructure has become essential to economic growth, public services, and digital inclusion, making the sector’s health a broader policy issue rather than a narrow industry question.

That is particularly important in the context of standalone 5G, which the UK sees as the next step beyond non-standalone deployments already in the market. The government’s wider wireless strategy, published earlier, set the ambition of nationwide standalone 5G coverage across populated areas by 2030. The new review suggests ministers are now testing whether the commercial and regulatory environment is strong enough to support that ambition over the long term.

The government also links the debate to the broader transformation of telecoms infrastructure. The call for evidence highlights trends such as software-defined networking, greater cloud integration, and the increasing role of large technology providers in network architecture and service delivery.

Those shifts may create efficiencies and new business models, but they also raise policy questions around resilience, supply chain dependence, and competition in a market where telecoms operators may become more reliant on external platforms and cloud companies.

So, the review is about more than just the 5G rollout. It is also an attempt to work out how the UK should regulate a sector in which connectivity is becoming increasingly strategic, software-based, and tightly linked to the wider digital economy.

The outcome could shape not only investment incentives for mobile operators, but also the balance the UK strikes between innovation, security, and market concentration as it prepares for future generations of wireless technology.

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EU proposes new Google search-data sharing measures under DMA

The European Commission has set out proposed measures that would require Google to share key search data with third-party providers under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), in a fresh step to open Europe’s online search market to greater competition. The move comes in the form of preliminary findings sent to Google, rather than a final decision, and is now subject to public consultation.

Under the proposal, Google would have to provide access to anonymised search data, including ranking, query, click, and view data, on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms. According to the Commission, the aim is to allow third-party search engines to improve their services and better challenge Google Search’s market position.

The proposed measures go beyond a general obligation to share data. They set out detailed conditions covering who should qualify for access, what data must be made available, how frequently it should be shared, how personal data should be anonymised, how pricing should be set, and how access procedures should work in practice. The consultation also explicitly includes companies offering online search services that incorporate AI chatbot functionality, showing that the case could shape competition not only in traditional search but also in AI-assisted search services.

The consultation is tied to Article 6(11) of the DMA, which requires gatekeepers operating online search engines to share certain anonymised data with other search engines under FRAND terms. The Commission says it opened proceedings against Alphabet in January 2026 to specify how Google should comply with that obligation in practice.

Brussels is now asking stakeholders to comment on whether the proposed framework would work in practice, whether the anonymised data would remain useful enough to help rivals improve their services, whether additional measures are needed, and whether the implementation timeline is realistic. The consultation opened on 16 April 2026 and will run until 1 May 2026, with the Commission expecting to adopt a final decision by 27 July 2026.

The case is significant because it shows the DMA moving from broad obligations to detailed implementation. Rather than debating only whether large platforms should share data, the Commission is now trying to define what meaningful access would look like in operational terms, including what must be handed over, on what conditions, and with what privacy safeguards. In that sense, the Google case may become an important test of how far the DMA can reshape competition in digital search markets and related AI services.

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South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission closes consultation on domestic agent rules for foreign platforms

South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission closes its public consultation on proposed amendments to the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce, including new rules on domestic agents for certain overseas businesses.

According to the Fair Trade Commission, an overseas business without an address or place of business in South Korea would be required to designate a domestic agent if it meets at least one of three criteria: sales in the previous year exceeding ₩1 trillion, an average of more than 1 million domestic consumers accessing the cyber mall each month in the three months immediately preceding the end of the previous year, or a Fair Trade Commission request to submit reports and materials.

The proposed rules would also require overseas businesses, once a domestic agent is designated, to submit the agent’s name, address, telephone number, and email address to the Fair Trade Commission in writing without delay and to disclose that information on the first screen of the cyber mall they operate.

The Fair Trade Commission also says the amendments would establish business suspension standards for violations of the domestic agent obligation. According to the proposal, a first violation would lead to a three-month business suspension, a second violation to six months, and a third violation to 12 months.

In the same legislative notice, the Fair Trade Commission also proposed reducing the scope of identity information that platforms facilitating person-to-person transactions must verify for individual sellers, from five items to two: telephone number and email address.

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EU updates technology licensing competition rules to reflect data and digital markets

The European Commission has adopted revised rules governing technology transfer agreements (Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulation and Guidelines on the application of Article 101 of the Treaty to technology transfer agreements), updating a framework originally introduced in 2014.

These changes aim to reflect developments in the digital economy, particularly the growing role of data and standardised technologies in enabling interoperability across markets.

Technology transfer agreements allow firms to license intellectual property such as patents, software and design rights, supporting the dissemination of innovation. While such agreements are often considered pro-competitive, they may also create risks if they restrict market access or distort competition.

The revised framework clarifies how these agreements are assessed under Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

The updated rules introduce specific guidance on data licensing and licensing negotiation groups, addressing new market practices.

They also refine conditions under which agreements benefit from exemptions, including simplified criteria for early-stage technologies and clearer safeguards for technology pools linked to industry standards.

Overall, the revision by the EU seeks to improve legal certainty for businesses while ensuring that licensing practices support innovation, competition and the broader functioning of the single market. The new framework will apply from May 2026.

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