The European Union has issued two enforcement decisions under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) requiring Google to give rival AI assistants on Android the same system-level capabilities and data access as its own Gemini assistant, and to share Google Search data — including click, query, and ranking signals — with competing search engines and AI services. European Commission Executive Vice President Henna Virkkunen announced the decisions on July 16, 2026 (The Verge).

The first decision, docketed as DMA.100220, covers Android interoperability. It requires Google to let rival AI assistants do things only Gemini can currently do: interact with other apps, respond to voice triggers like "Hey Google," and access phone hardware such as the microphone and camera. A case summary published April 27, 2026 confirmed the Commission's plan to set binding requirements, and the final decision will specify exactly what Google must implement.

The second decision, DMA.100209, targets Google Search data sharing. Google must share search data — including what users click on, what they search for, and how Google ranks results — with competing search engines and AI services. Notably, the EU considers AI chatbots to function as search engines in some cases, so they fall within the scope of this data-sharing mandate (The Verge). The Commission has stated there will be limits on how the shared data can be used.

Google retains a safety vetting role under the framework. The company will be able to review which services receive deeper access to Android to ensure security is not compromised (The Verge).

Unlike a financial penalty, these DMA proceedings require Google to change how it operates. The measures were developed through extensive engagement between the company and regulators (The Verge). The Commission will adopt final decisions in both cases by July 27, 2026.

The Commission has been building toward these decisions across the first half of 2026. A factsheet published May 11, 2026 detailed how DMA enforcement is delivering new interoperability and data portability features on smartphones, framing the Google measures as part of a broader effort to open up platforms controlled by designated "gatekeepers" — companies the EU deems to hold entrenched market power.

The Android AI assistant decision addresses a core competitive question. When an assistant ships deeply integrated with an operating system, it gets privileged access to hardware and app-level interactions that a rival, operating as a standard app, cannot match. Gemini's integration lets it invoke system features, respond to wake-word triggers, and reach into application interfaces. The DMA decision requires Google to extend that same integration surface to competitors, subject to security vetting.

The practical implementation will be the hard part. Opening assistant-level system access to third parties raises legitimate security questions. Google's ability to vet services before granting deeper access is a meaningful concession, though it also gives Google a gatekeeping role over its own competitors. The Commission will presumably monitor this arrangement closely.

The Search data-sharing decision reaches further in some respects. By classifying AI chatbots as functioning like search engines in certain cases, the EU has expanded the pool of data recipients beyond traditional search competitors. Click and ranking signals — the raw material that relevance systems use to decide what results to show — are among the highest barriers to entry in the search space. Requiring Google to share them with AI chatbot providers effectively lowers that barrier.

The usage limits the Commission has signaled will be worth watching. Data shared under the DMA framework could be used to train competing AI models or improve rival relevance systems, but the boundaries of permissible use will determine whether this genuinely opens the market or amounts to a narrow compliance exercise. The July 27 final decision deadline will set the binding specifics.

Taken together, the two decisions target the two most defensible positions Google holds in the AI and search ecosystem: the default assistant on the dominant mobile operating system in Europe, and the proprietary search data that underpins its relevance ranking. The DMA was designed to address this kind of gatekeeper advantage, and these proceedings move the regulation from framework to concrete operational requirements. Whether rival assistants and AI services can meaningfully leverage these access points depends on implementation details that will become clear once the final decisions are adopted.