Apple Pushes Back as the App Store Antitrust Bill Returns
A bipartisan bill targeting Big Tech gatekeeping is back in the Senate, and Apple is already warning it would weaken App Store protections.
Key Takeaways
- AICOA is back in the Senate and would bar large platforms from favoring their own products and locking users into defaults.
- The bill targets Apple, Google, Amazon, and Meta, applying to platforms above $175 billion in revenue with wide U.S. reach.
- Apple is fighting the measure, framing it as a U.S. version of Europe's DMA that would weaken privacy and child safety protections.
A bipartisan bill aimed at curbing Big Tech gatekeeping is back before the Senate, and Apple has already issued a sharp rebuttal. The American Innovation and Choice Online Act would restrict how the largest platforms favor their own products and services.
According to 9to5Mac, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Sen. Amy Klobuchar reintroduced the measure this week. The bill is a reworked version of one that failed to reach a floor vote in 2022.
AICOA aims to restore online competition and affordability across major digital platforms. It would let federal and state agencies challenge platforms for conduct that harms competition.
The bill applies to platforms with at least $175 billion in average annual gross revenue. They must also reach 34% of U.S. subscriber households or 34% of monthly active users over age 12.
Covered platforms would be barred from unfairly favoring their own products or limiting rivals' access to key features. They could not lock users into default settings or skew rankings against similarly situated business users.
The bill would also stop platforms from misusing nonpublic business-user data to copy small competitors. It would prevent blocking business users from moving their own data to another platform.
If passed, AICOA would apply to Apple, Google, Amazon, and Meta. According to MacRumors, co-sponsors include Senators Josh Hawley, Dick Durbin, Sheldon Whitehouse, and Cory Booker.
The measure was endorsed by Mozilla, Proton, DuckDuckGo, Yelp, and Y Combinator, among others. Several antitrust scholars and advocacy organizations also backed the proposal.
In a statement to 9to5Mac, Apple said it strongly disagrees with what it called European-style regulation. The company argued the bill would hamper innovation and force changes that consumers never asked for.
Apple said the bill would undermine privacy, security, and child safety protections that users rely on daily. It also warned the measure could make it harder to do business inside the U.S.
The company drew direct parallels between AICOA and Europe's Digital Markets Act. According to MacRumors, Apple recently said it could not bring Siri AI to the EU at the iOS 27 launch due to DMA interoperability rules.
Apple also pointed to a study it commissioned on the DMA's effects on prices. The study found developers kept prices the same or raised them on 91% of products despite a 10 percentage point commission cut.
Bill sponsors say AICOA was written to preserve safety, privacy, intellectual property, and national security. They note it includes language letting covered platforms prevent fraud and protect user data.
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The Mixstackrr Team is a group of writers and editors with more than 10 years of combined experience in SEO and consumer tech. We test devices, dig through settings, and turn everyday tech problems into clear, step-by-step guides anyone can follow.
