The EU just ordered Google to share search data with competitors and open Android to rival AI
The European Commission dropped two legally binding decisions on Google today under the Digital Markets Act. One forces Google to open 11 Android system features to rival AI assistants. The other makes Google hand over anonymized search data to competing search engines and AI chatbots by January 2027.
The core problem the Commission identified is simple. Google controls about 90% of the search market in Europe. Android runs on 60% of EU smartphones. Third-party AI assistants currently cannot access the same system-level features as Google’s own Gemini. They cannot be launched by voice prompt. They cannot run background tasks like booking a restaurant through a third-party app. They are second-class citizens on the operating system Google itself controls.
That ends now. By July 2027, a software update must give rival AI assistants like OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Anthropic’s Claude the same system-level access Gemini already enjoys on Android. The 11 features the Commission singled out are what it calls “core building blocks” for a functional AI assistant.
The search data sharing is the more aggressive move. Google sits on the largest search query dataset in the world. No competitor can match it. Starting January 2027, Google must share anonymized raw search data with eligible rival search engines and AI chatbots that have web search functionality. The Commission explicitly included chatbots as recipients, which means a company like OpenAI or Perplexity could get access to Google’s search corpus to train and improve their own products.
The Commission applied privacy safeguards. Data goes through a multi-layered anonymization process. Google is allowed to assess whether specific data poses cybersecurity or privacy risks before sharing. How meaningful those guardrails will be in practice remains to be seen.
Google’s response was immediate and sharp. Kent Walker, president of global affairs for Google and Alphabet, said in a statement that “Europeans’ private searches would be exposed to unfamiliar companies, without adequate anonymization of the data and without user knowledge or consent.” He called it a risk to privacy, trade secrets, and national security.
Whether that argument holds water is debatable. Google has built its entire business on collecting and monetizing user data. The idea that sharing anonymized data with vetted competitors is a privacy crisis while Google’s own data collection is fine is a hard circle to square.
Commission Executive Vice President Henna Virkkunen, who oversees tech policy, framed the decision as a choice issue. “Thanks to these measures, we hope to see emerging alternatives to Google Search and Google’s AI services, such as Gemini, and that users in the EU can enjoy greater choice of services.”
This is not a sudden move. The Commission opened two specification proceedings on January 27, 2026 to figure out exactly how Google should comply with DMA obligations. It sent preliminary findings to Google in April. Today’s decisions turn those preliminary findings into binding instructions. Google cannot appeal the substance, only the implementation details.
The broader pattern is unmistakable. The EU has forced Apple to add interoperability features for non-Apple devices. It demanded Meta remove addictive features like infinite scrolling. Now it is going after Google’s AI advantage directly. The DMA is not a slap on the wrist. It is a structural reshaping of how gatekeeper platforms operate in Europe.
For AI companies, this is a windfall. Access to Android system features means ChatGPT or Claude could theoretically replace Gemini as the default assistant on European Android phones. Access to Google’s search data means competitors can train better models without needing their own search engine. The Commission essentially just handed Google’s rivals two of its biggest competitive advantages.
The Trump administration has previously criticized EU tech regulation, and this decision will likely draw the same response. But the DMA is already law. The Commission is enforcing it. Google’s options at this point are compliance or fines that can reach 10% of global annual revenue.
What happens next is implementation. Google has until January 2027 for the data sharing and July 2027 for Android interoperability. Expect heavy lobbying, technical disputes over what counts as “adequate anonymization,” and possibly a renegotiation of the specific data formats. The Commission has shown it is willing to push forward regardless.