Brussels orders Google to share data, open Android to AI rivals

“The European Union (EU) on Thursday demanded that US tech giant Google share data with other search engines and open its Android system to rival artificial intelligence (AI) services. But the US company said the measures would threaten privacy.

 

The European Commission (EC) has provided the company with guidelines on AI interoperability on Android and sharing Google search data under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the EC said in a statement. In total, the EC has provided Google with two sets of mandatory specifications under the DMA.

 

The first set aims to ensure that rival AI services can compete with Google’s own AI services, such as Gemini, by providing equal access to features on Google’s Android devices.

 

The second set aims to rebalance the playing field by giving third-party search engines access to search data that only Google Search can collect on a large scale.

Interaction with Google Android

 

Currently, on Android phones, competing AI assistants only have limited access to core features of Google’s Android operating system. Without this access, alternative AI assistants do not compete on a level playing field with Google’s AI services, which have full access. Third-party AI assistants are limited in their ability to offer innovative services, making them less attractive to the 60% of EU users who own an Android device.

 

Today’s decision will ensure that users can activate their preferred AI assistant using voice commands similar to “Hey Google”. Users will be able to use third-party AI assistants to perform actions on their behalf in apps.

Google Search Data

 

The second decision sets out how Google should share search data with other search engines. According to the EC, data sharing is essential for the development and optimization of third-party search engines. It helps to create a more level playing field when competing with Google Search and encourages innovative search services that include privacy-focused alternatives.

 

The aim of these measures is to enable companies to offer European users a wider and more diverse choice of features, both in terms of their AI services on Android and in search services.

 

“With today’s measures, we want to support innovation and diversity in the European Union, in order to create conditions for fair competition in the markets for AI assistants for Android devices and search engines. We hope that these measures will lead to new alternatives to Google Search and Google’s AI services, such as Gemini, and that EU users will have access to a wider range of services. All developers, large and small, are invited to explore these new opportunities, which will certainly benefit consumers,” said Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President for Technological Sovereignty, Security and Democracy.

 

However, Kent Walker, Google’s head of international affairs, said the EU’s actions put at risk “the fundamental privacy and security guarantees of millions of Europeans.”

 

He noted that AI assistants already have access to the Android system, and sharing search data would “make Europeans’ private search queries available to unknown companies without proper data anonymization and without users’ knowledge or consent.””