The European Commission issued two binding decisions this month requiring Google to give competing AI assistants deeper access to Android and to share anonymized search data with rival search engines and AI chatbots — one of the EU’s most consequential interventions yet in the AI market.
Under the first ruling, Google must open 11 Android features to eligible AI competitors, letting users activate a rival assistant by voice command the same way they currently say “Hey Google,” and letting those assistants complete background tasks like booking a taxi or replying to messages, according to Reuters’ reporting via Euronews.
The changes roll out in phases: Android access begins reaching users from July 2027, and Google must start sharing anonymized search data with qualifying rivals by January 2027.
Why the EU is acting now
European officials framed both rulings around the Digital Markets Act’s core goal: preventing large platforms from using control over one layer of the stack — in this case, Android and Google Search — to entrench an advantage in an adjacent, emerging market, namely AI assistants.
EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen said the bloc hopes the measures let genuine alternatives to Gemini and Google Search take hold, giving European users real choice rather than a default they can’t easily leave.
Google’s pushback
Google has objected strongly. The company’s President of Global Affairs, Kent Walker, said the decisions risk undermining privacy and security protections for millions of Europeans, and that Google had repeatedly proposed alternative solutions the Commission declined to adopt.
Google also argues users can switch assistants on their devices today. The rulings are legally binding but don’t carry fines on their own — non-compliance, however, could expose Google to penalties of up to 10% of its global annual revenue.
This is not an isolated action. The same EU competition apparatus has recently forced Apple to add interoperability features connecting to non-Apple devices and pushed Meta to dismantle certain engagement-maximizing design patterns — part of a broader pattern of the Commission treating AI-adjacent platform control as the next front in its decade-long antitrust campaign against U.S. tech giants.
What to watch next
- Whether rival AI assistants (from OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity, and others) move quickly to apply for the new Android access once eligibility terms are published in early 2027.
- Whether the Trump administration’s public criticism of the DMA translates into any trade-policy response.
- Whether the search-data-sharing requirement meaningfully narrows Google’s advantage in training and grounding its own AI products.
Helpful Sources
- EU orders Google to share search data, open Android to AI rivals — Euronews
- EU Orders Google To Open Android And Search Data To Rival AI Services — Dataconomy
- Google must open Android to rival AI agents, EU orders — Computerworld
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