EU Orders Google to Open Android and Search to AI Rivals

On July 16, 2026, the European Commission imposed two sets of binding requirements on Google under the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA). The first concerns opening Android's system-level features to competing AI assistants, the second requires Google to share search data with rivals. This is one of Brussels' most far-reaching interventions in Google's ecosystem since the DMA took effect.

What the Commission Ordered

Until now, competing AI assistants installed as regular apps on Android had limited access to key system features. Google's Gemini can be activated with its own wake word at the system-level audio recognition layer, by long-pressing the home button, or with a gesture on the navigation bar - entry points unavailable to downloaded apps. Once the new requirements are implemented, a rival assistant will be able to register its own wake word and use the same system-level triggers.

In practice, this means an Android user will be able to use a voice command to summon, for example, an assistant competing with Gemini, and ask it to book a taxi, reply within a messaging app, or answer questions about recently visited places, all without manually opening the app. The Commission noted that the decision includes safeguards to protect privacy, device integrity, and user safety.

Search Data for Competitors

The second set of requirements concerns search. Google will have to share anonymized query, click, and ranking data with rival search engines and AI chatbots offering search features, on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms. The Commission has developed a formula for pricing this data. Among the potential beneficiaries are OpenAI and Microsoft, which could use the data access to improve Bing.

We want to unleash innovation and choice for businesses and consumers - Teresa Ribera, EU Competition Commissioner

Google's Response

Google criticized the decision. Company spokesperson Kent Walker stated that today's decisions risk undermining important privacy and security protections for millions of Europeans. The company has signaled concerns that opening Android's system-level triggers to third-party apps could reduce control over what data reaches external assistants and how user devices are secured.

This is the latest chapter in Google's years-long dispute with Brussels over its dominant position in the search and mobile operating system markets. The DMA, in force since 2023, is designed to limit the ability of major digital platforms to use their position to shut out competition - earlier proceedings have already cost Google billions in fines.

What This Means for the AI Market

If the requirements are implemented on schedule, companies like OpenAI and Anthropic will get a real chance to compete with Gemini directly at the Android operating system level, rather than merely as another app to download. This could shift the balance of power in the mobile assistant market, where Google has a natural advantage stemming from its control over the operating system itself.

For Polish Android users and local companies offering search services or AI assistants, the change opens a real opportunity for system-level integration that until now only Google enjoyed. Access to search data could also lower the barrier to entry for smaller players building their own search-based tools.

Google said it will review the details of the specifications and may appeal the decision to EU courts, as it has done in previous disputes with the Commission. Further legal clashes between the company and Brussels are possible before July 2027, when the Android requirements are set to take effect.