EU Orders Google to Open Android to Rival AI Assistants Under Digital Markets Act

What happened

The European Commission issued binding specification decisions under Article 6(7) of the Digital Markets Act on July 16, 2026, requiring Google to open 11 Android access points to rival AI assistants.

Context and impact

This is a landmark regulatory intervention in the AI assistant market, directly threatening Gemini's Android lock-in. Non-compliance fines could exceed $30 billion (10% of Alphabet's global annual revenue).

Details

• 4 access layers: invocation (wake words), context (app data), actions (cross-app control), resources (on-device models)
• By July 2027: Android must stop defaulting to Gemini, users can pick preferred assistant
• By January 2027: Google must share search query and click data with competing AI developers
• License agreement templates due by September 2026
• 5 most sensitive capabilities require independent security certification