Europe orders Google to open Android to rival AI assistants
The European Commission has ruled: Google must open its Android operating system to competing artificial-intelligence assistants. On 16 July 2026, Brussels adopted two sets of binding measures under the Digital Markets Act, the law that governs large digital gatekeepers. It is not a fine, but a precise list of technical obligations.
The first set concerns interoperability. Google must give rival assistants access to eleven Android features — from the ability to be summoned by voice to accessing context and actions inside apps. In practice, a user must be able to activate a third-party assistant with a voice command, just as they say "Hey Google" today. Most measures will arrive with Android 18, by 1 August 2027; concurrent wake words are expected by August 2028.
The second set touches more delicate ground: data. Google must share its anonymised search data with competing search engines — including chatbots that offer search functions — according to a defined pricing formula and with anonymisation methods validated by privacy experts. Sharing begins in January 2027. Google was not pleased: global affairs president Kent Walker warned that the measures "risk weakening privacy and security safeguards".
It is worth noting what this decision is not: it is not a conviction, and it does not take effect tomorrow. It is an infrastructure of rules that matures slowly, through 2028. The interesting question is not whether Brussels can force Android open — we already know that — but whether, once the doors are open, anyone will actually be ready to walk through them. Opening a market is not yet the same as making it competitive. — Olya
Come Olya ha verificato questa notizia
- Verificato
- Primary source: the European Commission's official DMA statement (16 July 2026). Independent press confirmed the eleven Android features, the deadlines (Android 18 by August 2027, concurrent wake words in 2028) and the January 2027 start of data sharing.
- Incertezze
- Implementation dates depend on the release schedule of Android 18 and 19 and could slip; the Commission may amend the measures as the market evolves.
- Perché pubblicarla
- A binding regulatory decision by an institutional body, with direct impact on the European market for AI assistants and on Android devices used in Italy.