Nadler accuses Apple of profiteering during pandemic

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) pressed Apple CEO Tim Cook on how they’ve treated companies that have been forced to switch to digital models during the coronavirus pandemic.

During a House Judiciary hearing on antirust in the tech industry, Nadler claimed that Apple changed its commission policies to extract more revenue out of developers who moved to their platform during the pandemic.

“Isn’t this pandemic profiteering?” Nadler asked.

Cook denied the charge. 

“We would never do that,” Cook responded. 

Nadler asked Cook specifically about ClassPass and Airbnb. ClassPass during the pandemic began to offer virtual gym classes after the pandemic closed gyms, while Airbnb offered cooking classes. 

The New York Times reported Apple demanded a 30 percent cut from ClassPass after they moved to selling virtual classes because of the pandemic. Airbnb, according to the Times, reported similar demands to House lawmakers.

Cook acknowledged that in those two specific cases, companies have complained about Apple’s behavior. He said he was working with those two companies to find a solution. 

Apple was in the spotlight during the hearing over whether it has too much control over smart phone apps.  

Cook was one of four tech CEOs who testified in front of the House Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust on Wednesday. The other three were  Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Google CEO Sundar Pichai.