Google's voice assistant in new EU antitrust investigation, MLex reports

FILE PHOTO: A view of a sign above the entrance of the Google office, ahead of presentation of the detailed investment plan for Germany, in Berlin, Germany, August 31, 2021. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse

BRUSSELS/BANGALURU (Reuters) -Alphabet Inc's Google is being investigated by EU antitrust regulators over whether it may be forcing device makers to use Google Assistant as the default voice assistant on Android devices, news agency MLex reported on Thursday.

The European Commission in June said its sector inquiry into internet-connected devices drew concerns from respondents over certain exclusivity and tying practices related to voice assistants such as producers of smart devices being prevented from installing a second voice assistant on a device.

The most popular voice assistant devices in Europe are Amazon's Alexa, Apple's Siri and Google Assistant, with the global market expected to double to 8.4 billion devices from 4.2 billion between 2020 and 2024, according to market research company Statista.

The EU competition enforcer has asked device makers to provide any evidence that they are being forced to pre-install Google Assistant and if Google wants exclusivity by banning rivals from Android devices, MLex said.

Google said Android provides more choice than any other mobile platform.

"Manufacturers can choose which voice assistants to install on their devices and users can also choose which assistants to use and install," the company said in an email.

The Commission declined to comment and referred to EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager's news conference in June on the sector inquiry.

The Commission also wants to know if Google may be using its certification process for new devices to ensure exclusivity by another means, and the importance of the Google Play Store for different ecosystems, MLex said.

The regulator is also checking whether users may be able to use at least two voice assistants at the same time, the news agency said.

Google has already been fined more than 8 billion euros ($9.5 billion) by the Commission in the last decade in three separate cases.

The Commission has said it will issue a final report on its sector inquiry in the first half of 2022 after which it may open investigations.

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(Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru and Foo Yun Chee in Brussels; Editing by Arun Koyyur, Susan Fenton and David Evans)