The European Commission has ordered Google to open up features on its Android platform to rival AI service providers and to share search data with competitors, in the EU’s latest implementation of Digital Markets Act competition rules.
The EU found that third-party AI services currently can’t operate on Android devices at the same level as Google’s own Gemini.
Under the first of the Commission’s specification measures, Google is required to allow third-party AI assistants to be activated with a voice command, similar to the “Hey Google” command.
Device access
It must also allow AI tools to carry out tasks that involve access to apps running on the device, such as booking a taxi, receiving suggestions for relevant replies in chat apps, or asking the assistant about a recently visited place.
