The European Union has ordered Google to open up its Android phone software to rival artificial-intelligence assistants, in a decision that could loosen Gemini’s grip on millions of devices. The binding orders were issued on 16 July 2026.
Under the rules, tied to the bloc’s Digital Markets Act, competing assistants such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude must be granted the same deep access to Android that Google currently keeps for its own Gemini assistant. That covers 11 core phone features, from voice-command launching and screen reading to carrying out tasks across different apps.
In practice, that means a European user could choose a non-Google assistant as their default and let it, in the Commission’s words, “draft and send an email, book a taxi, change a system setting, or work through the steps to order dinner” using the same hands-free triggers Gemini enjoys today.
Google must provide this access free of charge and on comparable terms, and cannot bury rival assistants behind complicated settings. Most of the changes must ship with Android 18 or by 1 August 2027, while a feature for concurrent wake-word detection is due by Android 19 or 1 August 2028.
Separately, Google has been told to share anonymised search data, including ranking, query, click and viewing information, with competing search engines and AI firms on fair, non-discriminatory terms, with pricing to be finalised by January 2027. Personal search histories and Google’s own algorithms are excluded.
“Enabling fair competition in the markets of AI assistant for Android devices,” is how Henna Virkkunen, the EU’s Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, summed up the goal. The order comes after Google exhausted its appeals against a fine of more than 4 billion euros over abuse of its dominant position with Android.
Google has objected, warning that granting outsiders deeper access could expose sensitive information and weaken device security. For everyday users, though, the ruling points to a future where the assistant built into your phone is a choice, not a default set by the manufacturer.
Source: HotHardware.
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