Apple just received a very clear message that it still has a lot to do if it hopes to comply with Europe's new digital antitrust rules.

Why it matters: The tech giant, which has built its entire business around its own closed-world ecosystem, will now have to decide exactly how far it's willing to change in order to operate in Europe.

Driving the news: The European Commission this morning said it's opening two "specification proceedings" designed to compel Apple to open up its iPhone and iPad operating systems to competing technologies.

• Compliance with the issue, known as "interoperability," is a requirement to satisfy obligations under the European Commission's Digital Markets Act.

Zoom out: Apple is one of six tech companies designated as "gatekeepers" under the DMA for their combined control of 24 core platform services.

• The others, like Amazon, have been more deferential in working with the EU to avoid the kind of tension that Apple has faced, notes Axios senior tech policy reporter Ashley Gold.

Apple has made some changes in an attempt to comply, such as loosening its App Store restrictions for developers and moving to USB-C cables.

• But those have largely been viewed as just tinkering around the edges, notes Axios tech managing editor Scott Rosenberg.

What's next: Apple has six months to comply with measures to be outlined by the commission or face the threat of future fines or ongoing penalty payments.

What we're watching: The question now is what will happen if Apple continues to find that unworkable.

• Earlier this summer, citing the DMA, the company said it was withholding the release of three new features in the EU, including Apple Intelligence.

The bottom line: Apple may soon have to weigh whether it can function in the EU at all.

The S&P 500 today hit 5,700 for the first time.

Zoom in: Stocks bounced around wildly in the last couple hours of trading yesterday, unsure of what to do, after the Fed announced its half-point rate cut.

• Today, investors chose a direction. And that direction was up.

By the numbers: The S&P 500 finished up 1.7%.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average also hit new highs, finishing up 1.2%.
• The tech-heavy Nasdaq (+2.5%) and Russell 2000 index of small caps (+2.1%) saw even bigger gains.
• And in further evidence of the so-called "risk-on" rally, bitcoin surged over 5% in the last 24 hours, trading this afternoon at over $63,000.

🤝 Axel Springer and private equity firm KKR reached a deal to break up the media giant. (Axios)

🏠 Sales of previously owned homes fell 2.5% in August from July. (CNBC)

🛒 Retail's Super Bowl season is about to begin. (Axios)

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson is launching a new nicotine-pouch brand — one aimed specifically for... conservatives?

Between the lines: Carlson's plan, which he outlined to the Wall Street Journal, stems from a spat with the makers of his former favorite nicotine pouch, Zyn.

• Zyn, Carlson said, was a "ladies brand," controlled by "left-wing drones.'"

The other side: A spokesperson for Philip Morris, which controls Zyn, assured the WSJ that its users consist of both Democrats and Republicans, and that it "has bipartisan support in Washington."

What we're watching: Carlson's partner in the venture, which they call Alp, reportedly declined to say whether the brand had sought clearance from the FDA.

"We're all adults here."

Zoom in: Niccol said he believes workers should be together "as much as possible," per Bloomberg, which obtained a transcript of his remarks yesterday. But "this is not a game of tracking."

• "You need to figure out where you need to be to get your job done, then do that."
• He reportedly didn't address whether Starbucks was changing its existing three-day in-office policy. (A spokesperson told Bloomberg it was not.)

The intrigue: Niccol himself has raised some eyebrows for his own work arrangement at Starbucks. (He wasn't required to relocate closer to the coffee chain's Seattle HQ from his home in Newport Beach, California.)