EU pushes Android AI interoperability

The European Commission has told Google to open key Android features to rival AI assistants, starting a public consultation that runs until May 13. (digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu) The draft measures were sent to Google on April 27 in specification proceedings the Commission opened on January 27 under the Digital Markets Act. The case focuses on whether third parties can get effective access to Android capabilities now largely reserved for Google’s own AI tools. (digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu) (usnews.com) In plain terms, the European Union wants an Android phone to treat a rival assistant more like Gemini. The Commission said competing services should be able to interact with apps and carry out tasks such as sending an email, ordering food, or sharing a photo. (digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu) One concrete example is voice activation. The Commission said rival AI services should be easy for users to launch with their own custom wake word, instead of relying on Google’s defaults. (digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu) Teresa Ribera, the European Union’s antitrust chief, said the proposal would give Android users more choice about which AI services they use and integrate on their phones. The Commission said it plans to decide by the end of July whether Google’s approach complies with the law. (usnews.com) Google said the intervention is unnecessary because Android already lets device makers customize AI services. Clare Kelly, Google’s senior competition counsel, said forcing access to sensitive hardware and device permissions would raise costs and weaken privacy and security protections for European users. (usnews.com) The fight sits inside the Digital Markets Act, the European Union law used to push large platforms to give rivals fairer access to core services. In Google’s case, regulators are using that law to test whether control of Android can also shape who wins the next layer of mobile AI. (digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu) (usnews.com) If the Commission decides Google is not complying, the stakes are financial as well as technical. Under the Digital Markets Act, breaches can bring fines of up to 10% of a company’s annual global sales. (usnews.com) For now, Brussels is asking the market to weigh in before it turns the draft into a binding order. The immediate question is whether Android’s next generation of built-in AI features will stay closest to Gemini or be opened to competitors on similar terms. (digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu)