Google faces ramped-up European Union pressure to lift barriers to rival AI search assistants on Android handsets in an escalation that the US giant fears could compromise users’ security and privacy.
EU watchdogs are poised to lay out what Alphabet unit must do to grant the likes of ChatGPT and Anthropic PBC’s Claude access to the same features on Android as those available to Google’s own Gemini, according to people familiar with the matter. The people added that the findings were still in draft form and timing could yet slip.
The procedural step comes under the bloc’s Digital Markets Act – which establishes a series of dos and don’ts for Big Tech firms and has provoked the ire of White House, being slammed by President Donald Trump as unfairly targeting American companies.
Both the European Commission and Google declined to comment.
While the coming findings are a step shy of a formal investigation, the EU aims to pressure Google to re-engineer its services to allow rival companies to access key features in Android’s operating system.
Google’s Gemini enjoys access to core features on Android, including integration and communication with a range of apps. The people familiar with the matter said the EU’s draft findings are set to specify how rival AI services should be granted an equally effective level of access to Android features – such as voice activation and certain search tools, as well as the ability to integrate rival AI apps with other Android software.
But any such move is likely to be met with criticism from Google. When the Brussels-based European Commission launched the proceedings earlier this year, the company said it was concerned the efforts could "compromise user privacy, security, and innovation.”
The EU could later decide to launch a formal probe if Google doesn’t step into line – a move that comes with its own threat of financial penalties. The Mountain View, California firm has come in for fines totalling close to €9.5bil (RM44.08bil) from the EU for abusing its dominance over the years. – Bloomberg
