The European Commission has ordered Google to give rival AI assistants deeper access to Android's core features and to share anonymized search data with third-party search engines, including AI chatbots. The binding decisions, issued under the Digital Markets Act — a European law designed to make big tech companies play fair with competitors — 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 Google's own assistant, Gemini. Think of it like a phone maker building a voice assistant that gets special access to the phone's microphone, contacts, and search tools, while rival assistants only get partial access. The EU's proceedings explicitly reference voice activation — the ability to wake up an assistant by saying something like "Hey, Google" — as a feature that third-party AI services should be able to use too. 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 stripped of personal information using methods checked by an independent third party. This addresses a long-standing demand from rival search providers who have argued that without access to Google's search 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 proceedings against Alphabet related to opening up its platforms 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 basic, surface-level access and address the deeper integration points — the behind-the-scenes connections that determine whether a third-party assistant can actually work as smoothly as Google's own. EU Commission Staff Working Document

The orders arrive amid a broader push by European stakeholders to extend these kinds of rules 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. The Commission's logic is straightforward: if Gemini has special access to Android's voice activation, system features, and deep integration with Google's search and Lens tools, then competing AI assistants are at a structural disadvantage no matter how good their technology is. Equal access to system-level features is the precondition for meaningful competition in AI assistants, not just a nicety for consumers.

Google and Apple's privacy and security objections are not easily dismissed, though. Giving third-party assistants access to system-level features, contextual data, and search query logs creates more entry points for hackers. The anonymization requirement for search data, with independent third-party evaluation, is an attempt to reduce the privacy risk on the data-sharing side. But the Android side is murkier: giving rivals "equally effective access" to features like wake-word handling means opening up parts of the operating system that have historically been locked down 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 process is designed to produce technical solutions through structured dialogue rather than one-sided demands, 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 once implemented. If the Commission succeeds in opening voice activation, system features, 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 proceedings will determine which outcome prevails.