EU Orders Google to Open Android to Rival AI Assistants by 2027

The European Commission has ordered Google to grant competing AI assistants substantially broader access to Android smartphones by July 2027, a mandate that could reshape how hundreds of millions of users interact with artificial intelligence on mobile devices.

The directive, issued under the EU's Digital Markets Act, targets what regulators view as an unfair advantage: Google and Apple collectively control roughly 5 billion active smartphones worldwide, giving their native AI assistants—Gemini and Siri—privileged positions that third-party services cannot match. About 427 million of those devices fall under EU jurisdiction, according to market research firm Omdia.

What the EU is demanding

European regulators want Android users to access third-party AI agents through voice commands and allow those agents to operate apps on users' behalf—capabilities currently reserved for Google's Gemini assistant. The commission also requires Google to share search data with competing search engines and AI chatbots starting in January, enabling rivals to deliver experiences comparable to Google Search.

The goal is straightforward: create a level playing field as AI assistants evolve from simple question-answering tools into agents that complete complex tasks across multiple applications.

Tech giants push back on security grounds

Google has rejected the mandate as dangerous. Kent Walker, president of global affairs at Google and Alphabet, argued that compliance would grant external apps "sensitive and powerful device permissions" and that sharing search data would "weaken citizen privacy, risk business trade secrets and endanger national security." Android president Sameer Samat added that users can already switch default assistants through settings menus.

Apple has taken an even harder line, announcing in June that it would not launch its redesigned Siri AI assistant in the EU specifically because of Digital Markets Act requirements. The company stated that compliance would force it to "give any virtual assistant direct access to users' private data."

Both companies have proposed alternative approaches, which the European Commission has rejected. A commission spokesperson said regulated "gatekeepers" can implement appropriate privacy and security safeguards.

Why it matters

This standoff crystallizes a fundamental tension in AI regulation: how to foster competition without compromising user security. Experts acknowledge legitimate risks—granting deep system access to third-party AI agents could enable data harvesting or create catastrophic failures if an assistant malfunctions while controlling messages, location, and device sensors. Yet some question whether privacy concerns are the primary driver of resistance from companies that have faced repeated scrutiny over data practices.

"We have to take these tech companies' arguments with a grain of salt and look at whether they've cared about privacy up to the point where suddenly a decision was affecting them in ways they don't like," Calli Schroeder, senior counsel at the Electronic Privacy and Information Center, told CNN.

The mandate could also accelerate competitive shifts already underway. ChatGPT is installed on roughly 30% of EU smartphones, and deeper Android integration could allow OpenAI's assistant to handle tasks like booking rides without users ever touching Google services. Analyst Runar Bjorhovde noted the implications could be significant if users "can utilize ChatGPT to book an Uber, completely bypassing the need to engage with Android."

The broader challenge extends beyond market access. AI systems trained on vast internet datasets may already contain users' personal information without their knowledge, and granting assistants expanded permissions amplifies those risks. As Schroeder observed, "We also want to make sure that users are aware of the risks they're taking when they engage with AI systems."

These details were first reported by CNN.