Apple has been named the first of tech’s so-called “gatekeepers” to be charged for violating the EU’s Digital Markets Act. In a press release this morning, the European Commission alleged that Apple’s App Store rules, “prevent app developers from freely steering consumers to alternative channels for offers and content,” blocking developers from providing customers with pricing information in the app or communicating with them about offers available outside the App Store. Penalties for breaching the DMA, which took effect earlier this year to foster competition in digital advertising, online search and app ecosystems, can scale up to 10% of global annual turnover — or even 20% for severe repeat offenses. That means Apple could be looking at a fine of up to $38 billion, which is not just a slap on the wrist.
Apple is one of six tech giants named by the European Commission as “gatekeepers” last year, alongside Alphabet, Amazon, ByteDance, Meta and Microsoft. While we continue to keep our eyes on the EU’s attempts to ensure a competitive marketplace, that’s not all we got into on the Equity podcast this morning. Rebecca Bellan led the show this morning and reported that X still has a Verified bot problem, but this time they came for TechCrunch writers (herself included). The experience had us wondering if X’s competitors will step up and create platforms with more safety…and fewer bots.
Rebecca also had an IPO update for our listeners this morning as Shein finally filed for its public debut in London, and we closed out our startup coverage with a look at Sir Jack A Lot’s startup for retail traders. The startup, AfterHour, which recently raised a $4.5 million seed round, had us hyped on the retail trading space and its continued growth.
Finally, Haje closed out today’s show with a teardown for Feel Therapeutics. The startup recently raised a $3.5 million seed deck to revolutionize mental health care with a science-forward approach that integrates wearable devices, mobile apps and clinician dashboards. Hit play to hear how they did it!
Equity is TechCrunch’s flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts.
You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod. For the full episode transcript, for those who prefer reading over listening, check out our full archive of episodes over at Simplecast.
