The European Commission has ordered Google to give rival AI assistants deeper access to Android's core functionalities and to share anonymized search data with third-party search engines, including AI chatbots. The binding decisions, issued under the Digital Markets Act, require Google to begin data sharing with rivals by January 2027 and to open Android features to competing AI apps by July 2027. Engadget

The Commission found that rival AI assistants have only limited access to key Android functionalities compared to Gemini, constraining their ability to offer innovative services. The EU's specification proceedings for AI service interoperability on Android explicitly reference voice activation capabilities, analogous to "Hey, Google," as a feature that third-party AI services should be able to access. EU DMA Developer Portal

The search data sharing requirement goes beyond assistant access. Google must share search data with third-party search engines, including AI chatbots, and the data must be anonymized using methods evaluated by an independent third party. This addresses a long-standing demand from rival search providers who have argued that without access to Google's query and index data, they cannot compete effectively in search or in emerging AI-powered search experiences.

Kent Walker, Google's President of Global Affairs, pushed back forcefully in a blog post, stating that the decisions "risk undermining vital privacy and security guardrails for millions of Europeans." Walker also said the decision to force Google to share search data will "endanger national security." Apple moved to Google's defense earlier in 2025, calling the interoperability mandate a "privacy nightmare." Engadget

The orders are the culmination of a process that began in January 2026, when the Commission opened two specification proceedings against Alphabet related to interoperability and access with an AI dimension. One of those, case DMA.100209, was opened on 27 January 2026 and concerns Google Assistant, Gemini, Google Lens, Circle to Search, and Text Search on Android. The Commission adopted preliminary findings in a related case, DMA.100220 (Google Android), on 27 April 2026. EU DMA Case Document EU DMA Case Summary

A Commission Staff Working Document released in April 2026 states that the Commission intends to specify how Google should grant third-party AI service providers "equally effective access" to the same features available to Google's own services on Android. That language signals the Commission's intent to go beyond surface-level API access and address the deeper integration points, system-level invocation, wake-word handling, contextual data flows, that determine whether a third-party assistant can function on par with a first-party one. EU Commission Staff Working Document

The orders arrive amid a broader push by European stakeholders to extend DMA-style obligations deeper into the AI and connected-device ecosystem. In March 2026, European broadcasters urged the EU to apply its toughest digital rules to Big Tech smart TVs and virtual assistants, specifically naming Google, Amazon, Apple, and Samsung. Reuters

The stakes here are genuinely two-sided, and the tension between them is real. On one hand, the Commission's logic is straightforward: if Gemini has privileged access to Android's voice activation pipeline, context-aware system hooks, and deep integration with Google's search and Lens capabilities, then competing AI assistants are structurally disadvantaged regardless of their underlying model quality. Equal access to system-level features is the precondition for meaningful competition in AI assistants, not just a consumer-choice nicety.

On the other hand, Google and Apple's privacy and security objections are not easily dismissed. Granting third-party assistants access to system-level invocation paths, contextual data, and search query logs creates a substantially larger attack surface. The anonymization requirement for search data, with independent third-party evaluation of methods, is an attempt to mitigate the privacy risk on the data-sharing side, but the Android interoperability side is murkier: "equally effective access" to features like wake-word handling and contextual system integration is not a clean API contract. It involves access to privileged operating-system surfaces that have historically been gated for security reasons.

The timeline gives both sides room to work. With data sharing due by January 2027 and Android feature access by July 2027, Google has months to propose technical implementations, and the Commission has months to evaluate them. The DMA's specification proceeding framework is designed to produce technical solutions through structured dialogue rather than unilateral imposition, though the binding nature of the final decisions means Google cannot simply stall.

For developers building AI assistants and search products, the practical question is what "equally effective access" will actually look like in implementation. If the Commission succeeds in opening wake-word invocation, contextual system hooks, and deep search integration to third parties, the competitive landscape for AI assistants on Android changes substantially. If Google's security framing narrows the scope of what must be shared, the effect will be more limited. The next twelve months of specification proceedings will determine which outcome prevails.