EU Orders Google to Open Android to Rival AI Assistants by July 2027
The European Commission has ordered Google to open Android to rival AI assistants and share search data with competitors under the EU's Digital Markets Act.
The European Commission ordered Google on Thursday to open core parts of Android to rival AI assistants and to share search data with competitors, two decisions issued under the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). The rulings are meant to give outside assistants such as ChatGPT and Claude a path to the same level of system access that Google’s own Gemini already has on Android, while forcing Google to share anonymized search data with rival search engines and AI chatbot makers. Google has until January 2027 to begin sharing the search data and until July 2027 to make the Android changes, giving the company between roughly six months and a year to comply.
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What the Android Order Changes
Under the Android decision, Google must give competing AI assistants access to system features and functions comparable to what Gemini already gets as Android’s preinstalled default assistant, according to reporting on the decisions from The Verge and 9to5Google. In practice, that includes letting Android users activate a rival assistant with a voice command similar to “Hey Google,” rather than reserving that level of hands-free, system-level integration for Gemini alone. 9to5Google reports that Gemini’s current edge goes beyond voice activation: as a preinstalled system app, it can interact with other apps, control phone hardware, and run its “Hey Google” background listening at all times, a level of access third-party apps cannot easily match today. The Commission’s decision is intended to close that gap for competitors, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude.
The order stems from the DMA’s “gatekeeper” rules, which apply to a small number of dominant platforms, including Android and Google Search, and require them to give rivals access to certain systems and data comparable to what the gatekeeper reserves for its own services.
A Second Order Covers Search Data
In a related decision issued the same day, the Commission ordered Google to share anonymized data collected through Google Search with rival search engines and AI chatbot companies, including OpenAI and Microsoft, according to 9to5Google. That requirement takes effect first: Google must begin sharing the data by January 2027, six months before the Android deadline.
EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen framed both decisions as an attempt to open up markets Google currently dominates. “Thanks to these measures we hope to see emerging alternatives to Google Search and Google’s AI services, such as Gemini, and that users in the EU can enjoy greater choice of services,” Virkkunen said, according to Euronews.
Google Calls the Rulings a Security Risk
Google pushed back immediately. “Today’s decisions risk undermining vital privacy and security guardrails for millions of Europeans,” Kent Walker, president of global affairs at Google and Alphabet, wrote in a company blog post. Walker argued that phone makers currently play “a key role in vetting” which AI assistants get deep Android access, and that the Android ruling “threatens device security by granting external apps sensitive and powerful device permissions without these safeguards.” On the search order, Walker wrote that sharing query data with “unfamiliar companies” would expose users’ private searches “without adequate anonymisation of the data and without user knowledge or consent,” which he said would weaken citizens’ privacy, risk business trade secrets, and endanger national security.
The Verge reports that Google declined to say on the record whether it plans to challenge the Android decision in court.
A Longer Runway Than Apple Got
The timeline hands Google a notably longer compliance window than Apple received in a similar fight over Siri AI. Last month, the Commission rejected Apple’s request for an 18-month gradual rollout of third-party assistant access alongside Siri AI’s EU launch, after Apple argued that opening up that level of system access immediately “would be irresponsible.” Apple then said it would not bring Siri AI to the EU at all alongside iOS 27 and iPadOS 27, rather than ship a version that met the Commission’s faster timeline.
Google, by contrast, gets to keep expanding Gemini on Android for up to another year while it works out the technical details of opening that access to rivals, a gap that leaves Gemini with a head start over ChatGPT, Claude, and other assistants seeking the same level of Android integration. Google has not said whether it intends to challenge that decision in court during the compliance window.
Sources
- The Verge: Google is better at playing the AI regulations game
- 9to5Google: EU demands opening Android access and Search data to rivals, Google warns of privacy risks
- Google: The DMA should not undercut security and privacy for Europeans (official statement)
- Euronews: EU orders Google to share search data, open Android to AI rivals competitors
Featured image: The Berlaymont building in Brussels, headquarters of the European Commission, which ordered Google to open Android and share search data with AI rivals under the Digital Markets Act. Photo by Euro Pictures (Sarra Benyaich), CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons/Flickr; cropped, resized, and converted to WebP.
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