EU orders Google to open services to AI rivals under Digital Markets Act

In a bid to curb the power of Big Tech, European Union regulators have outlined measures that would require Google to give OpenAI, other AI rivals, and competing search engines greater access to its services to comply with the bloc's Digital Markets Act (DMA). The move comes six months after the European Commission launched so-called specification proceedings to help the world's most popular search engine meet its obligations under the DMA.

The Commission said Google will have to open up 11 Android features to rival AI developers, allowing them to access key functionalities and better compete with Google Gemini.

Under the proposed changes, users will be able to activate a rival AI assistant using a voice command. These changes are expected to take effect from July 2027 as part of a future Android update. The Commission also said robust safeguards would be put in place to protect users' privacy and device security, with access limited to rivals that meet strict security and privacy requirements.

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As part of the measures, Google will also be required to share certain anonymised data that it uses to improve its own search engine with OpenAI and other AI chatbots that offer search functionality. The data-sharing requirements are scheduled to take effect from January next year, and the Commission has also proposed a pricing formula for access to the shared data.

Past charges

Google, one of the world's largest and most widely used search engines, was charged by the European Commission in March 2025 with breaching the Digital Markets Act. The company has since proposed a series of remedies aimed at addressing concerns raised by rivals and regulators.

The Commission's monitoring has also indicated that, under Google's Site Reputation Abuse policy, the company demotes news publishers' websites and other content in Search results when those sites include material from commercial partners.

Google has said the policy is intended to combat practices that allegedly manipulate search rankings. The Commission's latest measures are designed to ensure such policies do not unfairly disadvantage competitors.