FirstFT: Apple and Microsoft deny iMessage and Bing are ‘gatekeepers’ under new EU law

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Apple and Microsoft have argued with Brussels that some of their services are insufficiently popular to be designated as “gatekeepers” under new landmark EU legislation designed to curb the power of Big Tech.

Brussels’ battle with the two US companies over Apple’s iMessage chat app and Microsoft’s Bing search engine comes ahead of the publication of the first list of services to be regulated by the Digital Markets Act tomorrow, which imposes new responsibilities on large tech companies.

Microsoft had rejected the idea that Bing should be subject to the same obligations placed on its much larger rival, Google Search, said two people with direct knowledge of the matter.

Separately, Apple argued that iMessage did not meet the threshold of user numbers at which the rules applied and therefore should not comply with obligations that include opening the service to rival apps such as Meta’s WhatsApp, said the two people. Here’s more on what the new rules entail.

Here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on today:

• Economic data: S&P Global publishes its August services purchasing manager’s indices for the EU, France, Germany, Italy and the UK.

• Sunak in Indonesia: The UK prime minister is in Jakarta, where he is expected to address the Asean Business & Investment Summit along with Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida.

• UK: The NHS publishes data on waiting times.

Join Financial Times correspondents and expert guests on September 13 for a subscriber event to assess the implications of China’s economic slowdown and its struggle with deflation. Submit your questions and register for free here.

Five more top stories

1. More than one in eight UK bank branches that were open at the start of the year will close by December, with almost three-fifths of the network vanishing since 2015. The closures underline the growing sparsity of cash infrastructure despite government proposals to ensure long-term access to cash. Here’s more from the FT’s analysis.

2. Kim Jong Un is expected to discuss weapon sales with Vladimir Putin when he visits Russia, a senior White House official said yesterday. A meeting between the North Korean and Russian leaders would significantly step up military ties at a critical moment in the war in Ukraine. James Politi has the details from Washington.

3. Organisers of the Burning Man festival have announced an “exodus” of thousands of attendees stranded in the Nevada desert after torrential rains transformed an event that has become a magnet for technology executives, venture capitalists and social media influencers into a “nightmare” of muck and broken toilets.

4. Renault’s new electric vehicle unit could fetch up to €10bn when it is floated in an initial public offering in the first half of next year, the French group’s chief has said. He also warned that Europe’s car industry was being held back by over-cautious investors and unrealistic valuations offered by US investors to lossmaking EV start-ups. Here’s more from Luca de Meo’s remarks at the Munich auto show.

5. Poland’s central bank is expected to cut interest rates in spite of double-digit inflation that remains far above the EU average. Economists expect the decision to come as early as this week, lowering borrowing rates from the current level of 6.75 per cent, in a move that some say is politically motivated.

The Big Read

Big government is back. A consensus that states should do less and tax less, which has been around since the Thatcherism and Reaganomics of the 1980s, is starting to crumble. Challenges such as the Covid-19 pandemic, the transition to greener energy and rising geopolitical tensions have emboldened governments to be more hands-on. How will we pay for it all?

We’re also reading . . . 

• UK pensions crisis: Instead of propping up UK investment, reforms need to focus on making sure millions of Britons can retire securely and comfortably, writes William Wright of the New Financial think-tank.

• Space race: New rules are needed as costs fall and space exploration goes beyond the preserve of superpowers, writes Stephen Bush.

• Europe’s tourist surge: An influx of US visitors is boosting travel and leisure in the region to its best summer season since before the pandemic.

• London rents: Tenants in the UK capital face surging rents and eviction as landlords pass on pressure from higher borrowing costs.

Chart of the day

Novo Nordisk has become Europe’s most valuable company based on closing prices for the first time. The Danish company’s shares closed up 0.7 per cent to give it a market capitalisation of $428bn, after the pharmaceutical group introduced its best-selling weight-loss drug Wegovy in the UK.

Take a break from the news

Angular suit jackets, skirts, sheer black tights and boardroom pumps — power dressing is back. The AW23 collections have seen the high-powered, corporate glamazon return in all her assertive glory. And trends aside, the messaging of the original movement still holds relevance today.

Additional contributions from Gordon Smith and Emily Goldberg