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European regulators crack down on Big Tech

Economic Times · 5m

European regulators are taking action against big technology companies. Apple has agreed to open its mobile payments system to competitors, ending a four-year investigation. The European Commission has also opened a new investigation into Apple over its contractual requirements for third-party app developers. Microsoft has given up its board observer seat at OpenAI after concerns were raised about merger rules regarding its investment. European regulators have charged Microsoft with illegally bundling its Teams app with its Office product. The European Commission has requested detailed information from Amazon regarding its compliance with digital service obligations. Meta has been charged for failing to comply with the Digital Markets Act. Facebook, Instagram, and Google are also being investigated for potential breaches of EU rules. Alphabet's Google has been fined in the past for using its price comparison shopping service to gain an unfair advantage. The EU has named 22 "gatekeeper" services from various tech companies and given them six months to comply with provisions aimed at making it easier for users to switch between services. In the UK, the Competition and Markets Authority is investigating Amazon and Microsoft's dominance in the cloud market. France and Italy have also taken action against Nvidia, Google, Facebook, and Meta for alleged anti-competitive practices and intellectual property rule violations. The Dutch privacy watchdog has recommended that government organizations stop using Facebook due to concerns about personal data usage. Spain's data protection watchdog has provisionally suspended two Meta products, and a group representing Spanish startups has made a complaint about Microsoft's cloud practices.