The European Commission (EC) has issued guidelines to the company on AI interoperability in the Android system and sharing Google search data under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the EC said in a statement. In total, the EC has issued two sets of mandatory specification measures to Google under the DMA.
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The aim of the first set is to ensure that competitors’ AI services can compete with Google’s own AI services, such as Gemini, by providing equal access to Google Android device features.
The aim of the second set is to rebalance conditions by granting third-party search engines access to search data that only Google Search can collect on a large scale.
Interoperability with Google Android
Currently, competitors’ AI assistants on Android phones have only limited access to key Google Android operating system features. Without this access, alternative AI assistants do not compete on equal terms with Google’s AI services, which have full access. The ability of third-party AI assistants to offer their innovative services is limited, making them less attractive to 60 percent of EU users who have an Android device.
Today’s decision will ensure that users can activate their preferred AI assistant using voice commands similar to the “Hey Google” command. 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 very important for developing and optimizing third-party search engines. It helps create a level playing field in competition with Google Search and encourages innovative search services, including privacy-focused alternatives.
The aim of these measures is to enable companies to offer European users a wider and more diverse range of features, both in terms of their AI services on the Android system and search services.
“With today’s measures, we want to support innovation and diversity in the European Union to create conditions for fair competition in the AI assistant markets 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 be able to access a broader range of services. All developers, big and small, are invited to explore these new opportunities, which will certainly benefit users,” said Henna Virkkunen, the Commission’s Executive Vice-President responsible for technological sovereignty, security, and democracy.
However, Google’s Head of International Affairs, Kent Walker, said that the EU’s actions threaten “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 mean “Europeans’ private search queries would become accessible to unknown companies without proper data anonymization and without users’ knowledge or consent.”
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