The European Commission has prescribed specific changes that Alphabet’s Google must make to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), ordering the company to open parts of its Android ecosystem and to share anonymised search optimisation data with AI competitors, including OpenAI.
Commission officials published the technical and commercial conditions that will oblige Google to allow rival AI assistants and search engines access to designated services and data. The move follows specification proceedings the regulator began six months earlier aimed at aligning the world’s dominant internet search service with the DMA.
Under the Commission’s decision, Google will be required to expose 11 functionalities within Android to competing AI services. Those features will enable rival virtual assistants to be activated by voice commands analogous to Google’s current activation phrase and to execute tasks such as booking transport or retrieving information about locations.
The Commission said these Android-related changes are expected to take effect in the next major Android release, which will be available to users from July 2027. Access to the 11 features will be conditional on prospective rivals meeting defined security and privacy criteria; the Commission described the safeguards as robust and aimed at protecting user privacy and device security.
The decision also mandates that Google share anonymised datasets it collects to optimise its own search services with AI chatbots and other search-enabled AI rivals. The arrangement includes a pricing mechanism for the shared data and allows Google to conduct an initial assessment of whether prospective partners pose cybersecurity or data protection risks before granting access.
Implementation of the broader EU measure, including the data-sharing provisions, is set to begin in January of the coming year, the Commission said.
Google signaled strong objections to the regulator’s conclusions. In an emailed statement, Google executive counsel Kent Walker warned that the rulings "risk undermining vital privacy and security guardrails for millions of Europeans." He added that Google had repeatedly proposed alternative solutions designed to preserve user safeguards while meeting the DMA’s objectives, and that the Commission’s decisions discount evidence of potential user harm.
EU technology chief Henna Virkkunen framed the measures as intended to foster competition. "Thanks to these measures we hope to see emerging alternatives to Google Search and Google’s AI services, such as Gemini, and that users in the EU can enjoy greater choice of services," she said in a statement.
This regulatory action affects multiple segments of the technology ecosystem, including mobile operating systems, search services, AI chatbots with search functionality, and companies relying on search optimisation data. The Commission’s approach combines technical access requirements, data-sharing rules, and security vetting processes to balance competitive entry with user protection.