On July 16, 2026, the European Commission issued two binding decisions under the Digital Markets Act requiring Google to give competing AI assistants equal footing on Android. Google must open 11 system features to third-party AI services — including on-device model access, background task execution and screen context on par with its own Gemini assistant.
Data sharing and pushback
A second decision obliges Google to share anonymized search data with rival search engines and AI chatbots from January 2027, while most Android changes are due by August 2027. Google has strongly opposed the rules, warning that granting deep system-level access to external apps could create security risks — setting up a prolonged fight over how AI assistants work on Europe's phones.