EU Orders Google to Open Android, Share Search Data With OpenAI
The European Commission has directed Google to open key parts of its Android operating system to rival companies, including OpenAI, and share portions of the search data it uses to improve its services, in a major regulatory move aimed at increasing competition in the artificial intelligence and digital services market.
The directive forms part of a broad set of compliance measures under the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), designed to curb Google’s market dominance and create a more level playing field for competing technology firms.
The Commission unveiled the detailed requirements on Thursday, six months after launching specification proceedings to guide Google on how to comply with the landmark legislation.
Under the new rules, Google will be required to grant competitors access to 11 core Android features, enabling AI developers to build services that can compete more effectively with Google’s Gemini AI platform.
According to the Commission, users in the European Union will, from July 2027, be able to activate third-party AI assistants using voice commands in the same way they currently use Google’s “Hey Google” feature. This would allow rival AI assistants to perform tasks such as booking taxis, searching for local businesses, and responding to user queries directly on Android devices.
The Commission also ordered Google to share the search data it uses to optimise its search engine with OpenAI and other AI chatbot providers offering search functionalities. The data-sharing requirement, scheduled to take effect from January next year, will be subject to strict anonymisation standards to protect user privacy.
In addition, the EU has established a pricing formula that will determine how Google makes the shared search data available to competitors.
EU Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, Henna Virkkunen, said the measures are intended to encourage innovation while giving European consumers more choices.
“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 a greater choice of services,” she said.
The Commission noted that the measures include strong security and privacy safeguards. Google will retain the ability to assess whether companies requesting access pose cybersecurity or data protection risks before granting permission. Only firms that meet the Commission’s security and privacy requirements will gain access to the Android features.
Google, however, has strongly criticised the Commission’s decision, arguing that the new obligations could weaken privacy protections and compromise user security.
Kent Walker, Google’s President of Global Affairs and Chief Legal Officer, warned that the measures could have unintended consequences for millions of users across Europe.
“Today’s decisions risk undermining vital privacy and security guardrails for millions of Europeans,” Walker said in a statement.
He added that Google had repeatedly proposed alternative solutions that would protect users while meeting the objectives of the Digital Markets Act, suggesting the company is likely to challenge the Commission’s ruling through legal channels.
The latest decision marks another escalation in the European Union’s efforts to regulate major technology companies under the Digital Markets Act.
Last year, the European Commission accused Alphabet, Google’s parent company, of potentially breaching the DMA by favouring its own services in Google Search results and restricting app developers from directing users to alternative payment methods outside the Google Play Store.
EU regulators argue that such practices undermine fair competition and violate the DMA’s requirement that dominant digital platforms provide equal and non-discriminatory treatment to competing services.
The latest enforcement measures underscore the European Union’s determination to reshape competition in digital markets, particularly as artificial intelligence becomes increasingly central to the technology industry. If implemented as planned, the rules could significantly alter how Android operates in Europe while providing AI rivals with greater access to the tools and data needed to compete with Google.
