EU tells Google to share search data, open Android to AI rivals

The European Union has issued a significant demand to Google, requiring the tech giant to share its search data with competing search engines and open its Android operating system to rival artificial intelligence services. This move, mandated under the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA), aims to foster greater competition and provide users with more choices.

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Thanks to these measures we hope to see emerging alternatives to Google Search and Google’s AI services, such as Gemini, and that users in the EU can enjoy greater choice of services.

Under the new regulations, Google is expected to begin sharing search data by January 2027, with changes to the Android system rolling out to users by July 2027. EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen stated that these measures are intended to encourage the emergence of alternatives to Google Search and its AI services, like Gemini, thereby enhancing user choice within the EU. For instance, Android users should be able to utilize their preferred AI chatbots through voice commands, mirroring the functionality of the "Hey Google" command.

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introduce unprecedented risks to user privacy, device security, and national security

However, Google has voiced strong opposition to the EU's demands. The company argues that these measures pose "unprecedented risks to user privacy, device security, and national security." Kent Walker, Google's head of global affairs, warned that sharing search data could expose Europeans' private searches to unfamiliar companies without adequate data anonymization or user consent. While the EU insists that data integrity, security, and privacy have been carefully considered and that search data will be anonymized, the company remains concerned about the potential security implications.

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Europeans’ private searches would be exposed to unfamiliar companies, without adequate anonymisation of the data and without user knowledge or consent