EU Forces Google to Grant Rival AI Assistants Full Access to Android Features and Search Data

Key Findings

• The European Commission has mandated Google grant rival AI assistants equal access to Android's core features including camera, microphone, screen contents, and wake-word activation by August 1, 2027

• Google must implement these changes in Android 18 and establish a Qualified AI Assistant Programme with third-party certification authorities

• Google is also required to share anonymized Search query, click, and ranking data with competing search engines and AI chatbots for a cost-based fee starting January 2027

• These are binding specification decisions under the Digital Markets Act, not fines, though the Commission retains the power to open separate non-compliance cases

• Android holds approximately 60 percent of European mobile users

Background

The European Commission adopted two binding decisions on July 16 under the Digital Markets Act after opening proceedings six months earlier in January. These rulings target Google's dominant position in both the Android operating system and search, which the Commission determined creates unfair competitive advantages for Google's own AI assistant Gemini over third-party alternatives.

Opening Android's Core Features

Google must grant rival AI assistants access to five restricted features that currently require certification. These include centralized access to on-device data, context-aware intelligence capabilities, structured on-device integration like App Actions, screen automation, and system-level integration with settings, media, screenshots, and notifications. Certified assistants will be able to retrieve and manage Gmail, create Calendar events, access Drive and Docs, trigger Maps navigation, control YouTube, and handle SMS, MMS, and RCS messages.

An additional six features carry no certification requirement at all, opening to any third-party app. These include ambient data like microphone input, continuous camera access, screen contents, location data, and sensor information. Always-on hotword detection will survive locked screens and battery saver mode, allowing assistants to listen continuously until users end requests. However, support for multiple simultaneous hotword listeners will slip to Android 19 by August 1, 2028.

The Qualified AI Assistant Programme

Google must establish a certification programme accepting third-party Trusted Certification Authorities at no charge. The company cannot revoke an assistant's certification once approved, though it retains the ability to revoke a TCA itself. Certification standards remain limited to testing whether assistants reconfirm user intent before sensitive actions, minimize inadvertent data disclosure, meet baseline mobile security standards, and address agentic risks that could override user intent.

Google can only suspend an assistant if it accumulates consistent evidence of practices causing severe and immediate harm, with findings submitted to the Commission and certification authorities. Appeals must receive answers within a month. Users can also consent their way past certification requirements per service and device without accessing developer mode.

Search Data Sharing Requirements

The second decision compels Google to share anonymized Search query data, click information, and ranking data with rival search engines and AI chatbots beginning January 2027. Competitors will pay cost-based fees for access. The data must undergo strict anonymization and independent third-party review, though Google's commercial advantage from accumulated search history will still diminish significantly.

Google's Response and Security Concerns

Google's president of global affairs Kent Walker issued a forceful response, warning the decisions would severely undermine privacy and security protections for millions of Europeans. Google argues that opening deep Android permissions and continuous background listening capabilities to external applications dramatically increases device security risks and potential malware exposure. The company also contends that forced search data sharing exposes intensely private health, financial, and political information, claiming that anonymization provides inadequate protection against re-identification when combined with other data sources.

Implementation Timeline

Google must complete draft terms for the Qualified AI Assistant Programme by February 1, 2027, with final terms and open applications following thereafter. The company has until August 1, 2027 to ship the required features in Android 18. These are binding specifications, meaning non-compliance can trigger separate enforcement actions and fines handled through the Commission's distinct non-compliance authority.

Sources

• https://thehackernews.com/2026/07/eu-orders-google-to-open-android-mic.html

• https://securityonline.info/google-dma-ruling-android-ai/

• https://www.androidauthority.com/eu-android-ai-google-search-mandates-3688186

• https://www.theverge.com/policy/966438/eu-google-android-ai-interoperability-search-data-dma