EU Orders Google to Share Search Data, Android Features with AI Rivals

The European Commission has finalized requirements forcing Google to provide AI competitors and search engine rivals with access to key Android features and proprietary search data, marking one of the most significant interventions yet under the bloc's Digital Markets Act.

The measures, announced by EU regulators, conclude a six-month specification proceeding designed to clarify how the world's dominant search engine must comply with rules aimed at curbing Big Tech's market power. According to details first reported by Reuters, the requirements will fundamentally reshape how AI assistants and search services can compete on Android devices.

Opening Android to rival AI assistants

Google must make 11 features within its Android operating system available to competing AI services, enabling them to access the same core functionalities that power its own Gemini AI assistant. The changes will allow users to activate rival AI assistants through voice commands similar to "hey Google" for tasks like booking transportation or searching for location information.

These Android modifications will take effect in July 2027 with the next major iteration of the operating system. The Commission emphasized that access will be conditional—rival services must meet specified security and privacy criteria before Google grants them entry to these features.

Search data sharing mandate

In a separate requirement taking effect in January 2027, Google must share data it collects to optimize its own search services with OpenAI and other AI chatbots that offer search functionality. The shared data will be subject to anonymization protocols, and the EU has established a pricing formula to calculate the cost of access.

Google retains the right to assess whether requesting companies pose cybersecurity or data protection risks before opening access. However, the framework establishes clear parameters for when and how the company can deny such requests.

Why it matters

These mandated changes represent the EU's most concrete attempt to prevent a single company from controlling the emerging AI assistant market through its dominance in mobile operating systems and search. By forcing interoperability at the platform level, regulators are trying to ensure that AI competition happens on capability rather than distribution advantages. For enterprise technology leaders, this signals that AI service procurement decisions in Europe will soon involve genuinely independent alternatives with comparable system-level access—a shift that could influence product roadmaps and partnership strategies globally.

Industry pushback

Google's chief legal officer Kent Walker criticized the decision, arguing it "risk[s] undermining vital privacy and security guardrails for millions of Europeans." Walker stated the company had "repeatedly offered solutions to safeguard users while satisfying the DMA's goals," but claimed regulators "discount extensive evidence of user harm."

EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen countered that the measures include "robust safeguards to protect users' privacy and device security," expressing hope they would enable "emerging alternatives to Google Search and Google's AI services" and provide EU users with "greater choice of services."

The requirements stem from the Digital Markets Act, which designates certain platforms as "gatekeepers" subject to special obligations designed to maintain competitive markets. The details were first reported by Reuters correspondent Foo Yun Chee.