AI on Android and search data: Brussels forces Google to open up on two fronts

The European regulation on digital markets (the DMA, short for Digital Markets Act) was designed to loosen the grip of tech giants on the markets they lock up. On July 16, it has just delivered one of its most concrete results. Brussels has sent Google two sets of binding measures that strike at the heart of its ecosystem. The first opens the Android system to competing AI assistants, while the second requires the sharing of its search engine data with competitors.

“Hey ChatGPT,” coming soon to your phone?

On an Android phone today, a competing AI assistant faces a disadvantage that is not immediately obvious. When you install Claude or ChatGPT, you get an app; when you use Gemini, you get an operating system feature. That is the whole difference. Google’s built-in assistant can be invoked by voice, read the screen, and act within apps, while its rivals remain confined to their own sandbox. In a market where 60% of European mobile phones run Android, this asymmetry carries significant weight.

The first decision ends this preferential treatment by opening 11 key features of Android to third-party services. Users will be able to activate the assistant of their choice by voice command, just as “Hey Google” currently reserves this privilege for Gemini. They will be able to delegate tasks to it within their apps: booking a taxi, getting suggested responses in a messaging app, or asking the AI about a recently visited place. Rival assistants will also gain access to the models embedded in the phone (the preinstalled Gemini Nano models), on the same performance terms as Google’s. In short, a European user will be able to make ChatGPT or Claude their default system assistant and let it interact natively with Gmail, Calendar, or Maps.

On the timeline, patience will be required before any visible effect. Google will have to implement the bulk of these measures in the next major version of the system, Android 18, by August 1, 2027 at the latest. Only keyword-based voice activation, which is technically more difficult to open up to multiple assistants simultaneously, will have to wait until Android 19, by August 1, 2028 at the latest. The first tangible benefits for users are expected as early as July 2027.

Qwant and Ecosia set to be fed with Google data?

The second part targets a closely guarded treasure of the Mountain View-based company: the golden goose that made it the giant we know today. With more than 90% market share in search in Europe, Google Search has accumulated an unequalled wealth of data over the years. The group feeds this data back into its algorithm to strengthen itself even further (the snake biting its tail, search engine version). No rival can compete on this scale. The decision therefore forces the group to share anonymized ranking, query, click and display data with competing search engines, including AI chatbots with a search function. European players such as Qwant or Ecosia are among the potential beneficiaries, as are AIs that rely on search to ground their answers in current events.

Read also: Qwant and Ecosia are building a European search index to counter the American giants

Google’s previous data-sharing offer had fallen by the wayside, and for good reason: it excluded 90 to 100% of unique queries from the dataset and ruled out AI chatbots. Brussels has therefore dotted every i, including on the anonymization method. The process turns the dataset into a haystack of disconnected queries by removing direct identifiers and rare terms (full names, passwords, addresses). Each internet user is lost in a group of at least 1,000 people sharing the same language, location and device type (95% will even find themselves in groups of at least 29,000). A minimum period of seven days applies before any sharing, and the price charged to recipients cannot exceed Google’s weighted average cost of capital. To access the data, a search engine must demonstrate at least 50,000 monthly users in the EU, or a young existence backed by more than €50 million in investment. Sharing must begin in January 2027.

Google fumes, Brussels refuses to back down

In response to these measures, Google retaliated swiftly. The group’s chief legal officer, Kent Walker, condemns decisions that “risk weakening essential privacy and security safeguards for millions of Europeans”. The giant accuses Brussels of having ignored evidence of harm to internet users and maintains that opening up Android grants external apps sensitive and powerful permissions without the necessary safeguards.The company also cites the European cybersecurity agency, for whom security fundamentals matter more than ever in the AI era. European Commission Vice-President Henna Virkkunen argues, conversely, for measures intended to bring alternatives to Gemini and Google Search to the fore, for the benefit of consumer choice.

One point deserves to be reiterated to avoid misunderstandings: this specification proceeding is not a penalty and is not accompanied by any fine. It merely clarifies how Google must comply with obligations that have weighed on it since March 2024. The giant nevertheless is not done with Brussels and could face a fine under another DMA investigation as early as next week. Litigation is mounting as the cases pile up. This month, the group failed to have a record €4.1 billion fine overturned, imposed in 2018 for making the preinstallation of Google Search on Android mandatory. It is also appealing another €2.95 billion penalty received in September for abuse in online advertising. In the area of forced opening, the group is following in Apple’s footsteps, which was the first to be targeted by such proceedings and is already up in arms, on the basis of the same privacy arguments.

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Source: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_26_1634