EU pushes Google to open Android
- The European Commission on April 27 sent Google draft Digital Markets Act measures that would make Android’s core features interoperable with rival AI assistants. - Brussels said competing AI services should be able to use Android to send emails, share photos, order food and work across apps. - The case began in January and feedback runs through May 13 before a final EU specification decision. (ec.europa.eu)
The European Commission has told Google to change Android so rival artificial intelligence assistants can work with core phone features, not just Google’s Gemini. (ec.europa.eu) (bloomberg.com) In draft measures sent on April 27, Brussels said third parties must get effective access and interoperability with key Android hardware and software capabilities. The Commission opened a public consultation that runs until May 13, 2026. (ec.europa.eu) The Commission’s examples were concrete: a competing assistant should be able to send an email in a user’s preferred mail app, order food, or share a photo with friends from an Android device. Those tasks are the kind of cross-app actions that make a phone assistant useful day to day. (ec.europa.eu) This is not a new antitrust case filed from scratch this week. It is part of specification proceedings the Commission opened on January 27, 2026 to spell out how Google must comply with Article 6(7) of the Digital Markets Act for Android. (ec.europa.eu 1) (ec.europa.eu 2) Article 6(7) is the Digital Markets Act rule that requires gatekeepers to let third-party software and services interoperate with operating-system, hardware, and software features used by the gatekeeper’s own services. Android was designated a core platform service under the law, and Google had to comply with the Digital Markets Act by March 7, 2024. (ec.europa.eu) Google pushed back on the Commission’s approach, calling it “unwarranted intervention,” according to Reuters and Bloomberg’s reporting on the company’s response. The company has argued in past Digital Markets Act disputes that broader access can create security and privacy risks. (msn.com) (bloomberg.com) The Commission has not issued a final order yet. It is asking developers, rivals and other interested parties to comment before Brussels decides what exact Android changes Google must make. (ec.europa.eu) The immediate fight is over who gets to sit at Android’s system layer as AI assistants move from chatbots to tools that act across apps. Europe is trying to stop that layer from defaulting to one company. (ec.europa.eu) (bloomberg.com)
