EU orders Google to open Android to rival AI apps

The European Union has ordered Google to give rival AI assistants broader access to Android and to share more of its search data with competitors, arguing that Google could otherwise use its control of the mobile OS to shut out challengers.

According to the EU, third-party AI assistants currently have only limited access to Android’s “key functionalities” compared with Gemini. As a result, the bloc said, outside developers are constrained in how they can deliver their services.

If those changes go ahead, Android users in the EU could get a setup similar to the bloc’s browser choice rules. After picking a preferred assistant, users would be able to trigger it with voice commands and use it for a range of agentic actions.

The decision goes beyond Android. The EU also said Google must share data with third-party search engines, including making AI chatbots eligible to receive shared data and requiring Google to provide the same data it uses to optimize its own search products. The rules say that data must be anonymized, with the anonymization methods reviewed by an independent third party.

Recommended reading

Avito eyes free dating inside its app

These rulings are legally binding. Google must begin sharing search data with rivals by January 2027, and it has until July 2027 to open more Android software features to competing AI apps.

Kent Walker, Google’s President of Global Affairs, pushed back hard.

“risk undermining vital privacy and security guardrails for millions of Europeans.”

Walker also said the EU ignored Google’s evidence of potential user harm, that broader Android access would weaken device security, and that forcing the company to share search data would “endanger national security.” Earlier this year, even Apple backed Google’s position, saying such a change would create a privacy nightmare.

Google has not said whether it will challenge the decisions, but Walker’s response suggests a legal fight remains possible.