EU Forces Google to Open Android, Search to AI Rivals

The European Commission has ordered Google to open key parts of Android and Google Search to rival AI assistants and search engines, in one of the most consequential enforcement actions yet under the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

The decision requires Google to give competing AI assistants — including products from OpenAI and Anthropic, such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity — the same system-level access and data as Gemini currently enjoys on Android. A parallel decision on Google Search lays out how rival search engines and AI services can gain access to information that has historically been kept within Google's ecosystem.

What's changing

Android, which powers billions of devices worldwide, has long given Google's own Gemini assistant privileged integration with system features and data. Under the new order, rival assistants must be granted comparable access — a shift that could let Android users choose ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, or other assistants as deeply integrated system defaults instead of Gemini.

On the search side, the Commission's decision sets out mechanisms for competing search engines and AI services to access data that Google has historically controlled.

Google has been given a fixed compliance timeline: it must begin sharing search data by January 2027 and implement the required Android changes by July 2027. Non-compliance could cost Google fines of up to 10 percent of its annual worldwide turnover.

Apple's parallel fight

The Android and Search rulings follow a related dispute involving Apple. When Apple announced its Siri AI assistant, it said the feature would not launch in Europe because of DMA obligations. The Commission indicated Apple would need to give third-party assistants access to key systems, features, and data comparable to what Siri AI receives.

Apple pushed back hard, arguing that such interoperability requirements "would be irresponsible" and would create unacceptable privacy and security risks. The company requested 18 months to build a compliant version and introduce the required interoperability — a request the Commission rejected. Apple has since published a blog post titled "Due to DMA, Siri AI delayed in EU for iOS 27 and iPadOS 27."

Notably, Google and Apple have been working together on integrating Gemini into Apple's AI products, including Siri AI — a collaboration whose future under these new rules is unclear.

Company and regulator reactions

Google's president of global affairs, Kent Walker, said the decisions risk undermining privacy and security guardrails for millions of European users. On the other side, European Commission executive vice president Henna Virkkunen said the measures are designed to support innovation, diversity, and fair competition in the AI assistant and search markets.

No conflicting reports were identified beyond these differing characterizations from Google and the Commission.

What's still unclear

Several important details remain unresolved. The report notes it is unclear:

What specific technical mechanisms Google must use to share search data or Android system access with rivals.
How the Commission will verify or enforce compliance ahead of the 2027 deadlines.
What privacy or security safeguards, if any, will accompany the expanded data access.
How Apple's Siri AI delay in the EU will ultimately be resolved, or what compliance timeline Apple will eventually follow.
How this decision will affect the ongoing Google-Apple collaboration on Gemini integration.

Why founders should care

For early-stage founders building AI assistants, search tools, or Android-integrated products, this ruling likely signals a meaningful — though not immediate — shift in the European competitive landscape. Startups may plausibly gain new system-level distribution channels on Android and improved access to search-related data that was previously locked behind Google's ecosystem. However, because the compliance deadlines stretch to 2027, founders should probably treat this as a multi-year planning horizon rather than an immediate market opening. It's also reasonable to expect that the enforcement mechanics, data-sharing formats, and security safeguards — all still undefined — could shape how usable this access actually is in practice. Finally, the scale of the fines involved (up to 10 percent of global turnover) suggests regulators are likely to keep applying similar pressure to other large platforms, which could eventually affect the infrastructure many startups build on.

Bottom line

The EU's DMA enforcement against Google — and its related standoff with Apple over Siri AI — marks a significant test of how far "gatekeeper" platforms can be forced to open their ecosystems. For founders in the AI and search space, the direction is favorable, but the practical benefits likely won't materialize until closer to the 2027 deadlines, and the underlying technical and security details remain to be worked out.