The Verge · AI
EU demands broader Android AI access, opening competition at platform scale
Google scored a grace period to bring Android in line with EU rules, while Apple must make Siri AI compliant before launch.
Today, the European Union ordered Google to give its AI rivals greater access to Android, the open-source operating system that powers billions of devices worldwide. The demand is hardly surprising . It may look like a defeat on paper for Google, which has spent years resisting exactly this kind of access, but it is a regulatory win.
In one of two decisions handed down on Thursday, the European Commission — the EU’s executive arm and the principal enforcer of the bloc’s competition rules — said Google must give rival AI assistants the same kind of system features and data access it grants Google’s Gemini.
Crucially, Google has until July 2027 to make those changes, giving it roughly a year to continue expanding Gemini, negotiate technical details with the EU, and shape how its rivals will eventually plug into Android. The company could also challenge the decision in court, though it has not commented publicly whether it plans to do so and declined to comment on the record when The Verge inquired.
While Google has made it clear it would rather not open its systems at all — arguing it risks compromising users’ safety, security, and privacy — that yearlong runway compounds an already significant advantage.