Apple is changing its App Store business terms in the European Union in another major adjustment aimed at addressing its ongoing disagreements with the European Commission over app distribution and payment systems.

The new rules will take effect on October 1, 2026, and will move developers operating in the EU to a single set of business terms. The changes will also introduce a 5 percent Core Technology Commission on digital transactions made through apps distributed outside the App Store.

Under the new terms, apps distributed through Apple’s App Store that use Apple’s in-app purchase system will be subject to a 26 percent commission. Developers that use alternative payment providers will pay a 20 percent commission, while purchases that direct users to an external website will carry a 15 percent commission.

Apple says reduced rates will be available to developers participating in programs such as the App Store Small Business Program, Mini Apps Partner Program and Video Partner Program.

Developers in the EU will also be able to offer Apple’s payment system alongside alternative payment methods. However, once developers select their payment options, they will have to maintain those choices for 12 months.

The new structure also removes several existing fees. Apple will no longer charge the initial acquisition fee, store services fee or its previous Core Technology Fee, which charged developers €0.50 for each annual installation after an app passed one million downloads.

Apple will continue allowing developers to distribute apps through third party app stores and directly from the web in the EU. However, web distribution remains subject to Apple’s eligibility requirements, including conditions for companies operating third party app marketplaces.

The changes come after years of tension between Apple and European regulators over the company’s App Store policies. Apple previously changed its rules to comply with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act, but has continued to challenge aspects of the regulation.

The European Commission previously fined Apple after finding that its App Store anti steering practices violated the Digital Markets Act. Apple also recently lost an attempt to exclude the App Store and iOS from the scope of the DMA.

The updated rules will also introduce additional protections for younger users. Children’s apps will not be allowed to include links to websites for completing transactions, while apps will not be permitted to direct users under 13 to external websites to make purchases.

Users under 18 will also require permission from a parent or guardian when attempting to make a purchase through an alternative payment method inside an App Store app.

The changes represent another significant step in Apple’s effort to balance its tightly controlled App Store ecosystem with the European Union’s push for greater competition and consumer choice.

Apple is reportedly developing a proprietary large language model for the Chinese market as it works to bring Apple Intelligence to users in the country.

According to Reuters, Apple has trained its own AI model with assistance from Chinese technology company Alibaba. The move represents a shift from Apple’s earlier approach of relying on domestic third party AI models to power Apple Intelligence features in China.

Apple has been working to bring Apple Intelligence to China, but the rollout has faced regulatory hurdles. The company’s latest approach is reportedly designed to give Apple greater control over its AI technology while meeting China’s regulatory requirements.

The company is expected to begin rolling out its AI features in China in the coming months. The approach has been described as a dual track strategy, allowing Apple to use its own model while working with local technology partners to navigate the country’s AI regulations.

Alibaba plays a key role in Apple’s AI plans for China. Apple had previously agreed with Chinese regulators to incorporate Alibaba’s Qwen model into Apple Intelligence features, similar to how Apple integrates ChatGPT into Apple Intelligence in other markets.

Apple briefly published a support document in China explaining how Mac users could connect Alibaba’s Qwen AI with features such as Siri and Writing Tools. The guide was later removed less than a day after it appeared.

The reported development of Apple’s own model could give the company more control over the technology powering Apple Intelligence in China, while still allowing it to work with local partners to meet regulatory requirements.

The move would also make Apple the first foreign company approved by the Chinese government to offer a proprietary AI model in the country, according to the report cited by MacRumors.

Apple’s AI rollout in China is particularly important as the company looks to expand Apple Intelligence globally. While the service has already been introduced in other markets, regulatory requirements have made China a more complicated market for foreign AI providers.

Amazon has topped the $3 trillion market cap mark as its stock continued to surge following strong earnings results. The milestone puts Amazon in the same rarefied company as Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia, and it comes on the back of one particularly striking announcement.

Amazon posted booming cloud growth and hiked its 2026 capital expenditure to $220 billion, a figure that reflects the enormous infrastructure investment required to power AI services at scale.

That number is not just large. It is a statement of intent. AWS, Amazon’s cloud division, remains the backbone of a significant share of the world’s AI workloads, and the company is betting that demand will continue to outpace supply. The $220 billion figure covers data centres, chips, networking infrastructure, and the energy systems needed to run them.

For context, the entire GDP of many African nations sits well below that figure. The scale of capital concentration in AI infrastructure is worth paying attention to, not just as a business story but as a signal of where global computing power is being anchored and who controls access to it.