EU pushes Google to open Android

The European Commission told Google on Monday, April 27, to open key Android features so rival artificial intelligence assistants can work more like Gemini. (digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu) The draft measures say third-party AI services should be able to interact with apps on Android devices and carry out tasks such as sending email, ordering food, or sharing photos. (digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu) Brussels also said competing assistants should be easy for users to activate, including through a custom wake word, instead of Google largely reserving those capabilities for its own AI tools. (digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu) The case sits inside the European Union’s Digital Markets Act, the law that imposes special duties on “gatekeeper” platforms such as Android and Google Search. On January 27, the Commission opened specification proceedings to define how Google must comply. (digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu) Those January proceedings covered two fronts: Android interoperability for AI services under Article 6(7), and access to anonymized Google Search ranking, query, click, and view data under Article 6(11). The Commission said AI chatbot providers could be eligible for that search-data access. (digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu) The Commission is now asking for public feedback on the Android measures through May 13, 2026. It said a final decision on Google’s compliance is due by the end of July. (digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu) (usnews.com) European Union competition chief Teresa Ribera said the proposal would give Android users more choice in the AI services they use and integrate into their phones. Reuters reported the Commission framed the changes as a way to let rivals compete with Google’s own offerings. (usnews.com) Google pushed back on the proposal. Senior competition counsel Clare Kelly said the intervention would reduce device-maker autonomy, require access to sensitive hardware and permissions, raise costs, and weaken privacy and security protections for European users. (usnews.com) Under the Digital Markets Act, a non-compliance finding can bring fines of up to 10% of a company’s annual global sales. That makes the Android fight one of the European Union’s biggest early tests of how far it will go to stop AI features from becoming a new platform lock-in. (usnews.com) (bloomberg.com)