The EU has ordered Google to crack open Android and Search to its rivals including other AI assistants, but Google warns that it’s a privacy risk.
As noted by The Verge, the EU has handed down two decisions today that affect how other brands – particularly those competing with Google – can access Android and use data from Google Search.
Google has until January 2027 to start sharing Search data. Google, as a “gatekeeper,” would be required to share Seatch data with not only other search companies/services, but also AI chatbots, the EU has now added. This would include the likes of OpenAI and Microsoft, among others.
The other part of this is Android, where the EU is demanding that Google open up the same level of access to other AI assistants – ChatGPT, Claude, etc – as Gemini currently gets. As a pre-installed system app, Gemini has far more access to Android than third-party offerings, including the ability to interact with other apps, control hardware on the phone, and run its “Hey Google” background listening all of the time. There are many ways for third-party apps to implement features on this level, but it doesn’t work quite as well as it does for something with the same level of access as Gemini.
