The news
On July 16, 2026, the European Commission ordered Google to open 11 Android features to rival AI assistants and to share anonymised search data with competing search engines, including AI chatbots, under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the EU's rulebook for large platforms.
The Commission issued the two rulings as binding "specification decisions." They carry no fine. Instead, they spell out how Alphabet (GOOGL), Google's parent, must meet two DMA duties it has faced since March 7, 2024: interoperability with Android features under Article 6(7), and search data sharing under Article 6(11). The Commission opened both proceedings on January 27, 2026.
On Android, the Commission said user-installed assistants are shut out of functions that are almost exclusively available to Gemini. The order covers starting an assistant with a wake word similar to "Hey Google" or a long press of the home button; reading context such as screen content and sensor data; acting inside other apps, including automated multi-step tasks; and using on-device AI models and background processing. Google must provide this free of charge across Android devices, including other manufacturers' phones, in Android 18 and by August 1, 2027 at the latest. Letting several assistants listen for wake words at once is due in Android 19, by August 1, 2028.
For five sensitive features, including screen automation, Google may set objective privacy, security and integrity conditions, with independent parties certifying apps. Google must publish draft terms by February 1, 2027 and final terms by May 1, 2027, according to the Commission.
The search decision lists what Google must share: queries, query metadata, viewed URLs, user interactions with results and ranking positions, with account details, precise timestamps and ad URLs removed. The Commission said Google's earlier offer stripped out 90% to 100% of unique queries, excluded AI chatbots and drew no meaningful uptake. Now the data must be generalised so each user sits in a group of at least 1,000 users with the same location, device type and language. Recipients need at least 50,000 average monthly EU users, must pass independent audits and may not use the data to train general-purpose AI models. Sharing starts in January 2027, priced at Google's incremental cost plus a return capped at its weighted average cost of capital. In exceptional cases the Commission allows an extra margin, capped at Google Search's operating margin and never charged to small and mid-sized firms.
Kent Walker, Google's president of global affairs, wrote on July 16 that the Android ruling threatens device security by giving outside apps powerful permissions without the vetting phone makers now apply. He also said Europeans' searches would be exposed to unfamiliar companies without adequate anonymisation.
The numbers
- Android features opened to rivals
- 11
- Android deadline
- Android 18, by Aug. 1, 2027
- Concurrent wake-word deadline
- Android 19, by Aug. 1, 2028
- Search data sharing starts
- January 2027
- Minimum anonymity group
- 1,000 users
- Recipient threshold
- 50,000 monthly EU users
- Maximum access per recipient
- 5 years
Why CEOs should care
For companies building AI assistants or agent-style apps, the order sets a calendar for reaching European Android users on terms the Commission says must be as effective as Gemini's. Product leaders should plan around Android 18 and the certification window that opens on May 1, 2027. Ask which planned features fall into the five certified categories, and whether your security practices would pass an independent review. Makers of email, messaging and ride-hailing apps should decide which actions they will expose to outside assistants.
For CISOs, the change widens which apps can read screens, listen for wake words and act inside other apps on employee phones. Users must consent to each feature, but device-management policies and approved-app lists will need review before Android 18 reaches company fleets. Ask your mobile-security vendor how it will tell certified assistants from uncertified ones, and which corporate apps an assistant could reach.
For search and chatbot companies, the dataset is a new input for improving ranking and query understanding, at a cost-based price Google must set by January 2027. Boards and CFOs should weigh the conditions first: a two-year EU operating record or more than €50 million in capital for newcomers, yearly audits and a five-year cap on access per recipient.
The bigger picture
The decisions carry the DMA from app stores and browsers into AI assistants. The Commission said assistants are becoming a primary way people use their phones and that Gemini is uniquely placed to lead on mobile. Around 60% of European mobile users are on Android devices, according to the Commission, so access to Android is a main route to customers for any assistant.
The search order is also framed around AI. The Commission said it wants to stop Google Search's data advantage from extending to Google's AI chatbots, which makes Google's click and query data a potential input for chatbot makers as well as traditional search engines.
What happened next
On September 29, 2026, Google filed appeals against both decisions at the EU General Court in Luxembourg, Euronews reported, citing AFP. Oliver Bethell, Google's senior director for competition, said Google was appealing decisions that would force it to share people's private search history without sufficient anonymisation and weaken security protections on Android, according to the report.
Under the search decision's timetable, Google must finalise the anonymised dataset by November 2026 and its pricing offer by January 2027. On Android, the next milestones are draft certification terms by February 1, 2027 and the Android 18 release, with August 1, 2027 as the outside date.
