EU Orders Google to Share Search Data, Open Android

Brussels Escalates Pressure on Google

The European Union has ordered Google to make sweeping changes to how it operates its search engine and Android mobile platform, telling the company it must share anonymized search data with competitors and give rival AI assistants deeper access to Android's core features 15. The move, announced by the European Commission, marks one of the most consequential enforcement actions yet under the bloc's Digital Markets Act (DMA), a law designed to curb the market power of the largest online gatekeepers 78.

Google has pushed back sharply, warning that forcing it to hand over search data and open Android to outside AI services could compromise user privacy and weaken the security protections built into its products 1. The company's objections highlight a recurring tension in EU tech policy: regulators view data sharing and interoperability as essential to fair competition, while dominant platforms argue that the same requirements can create new vulnerabilities for the people whose data is at stake.

What the DMA Actually Requires

The Digital Markets Act was built specifically to prevent a handful of "gatekeeper" companies from using their scale to box out rivals, and Google's search and Android businesses have been named as prime targets of that effort 38. Under the latest order, rival search engines should gain access to anonymized query data that Google has historically kept to itself, while competing AI assistants are meant to receive broader access to Android system functions that were previously reserved for Google's own services 157.

Analysts tracking the DMA's rollout describe this as a turning point for competition in mobile AI, since Android's dominance as an operating system has effectively given Google's own AI tools a structural advantage over challengers trying to reach the same users 3. By compelling interoperability at the operating-system level, the Commission is attempting to level a playing field that smaller AI developers have argued is tilted irreversibly toward the incumbent that controls the platform.

A Separate Track: The AI Act and Its Own Deadlines

While the DMA action targets Google's market dominance, it unfolds alongside a distinct piece of EU legislation: the AI Act, a broader regulatory framework governing how artificial intelligence systems are built, deployed, and disclosed to the public 2. The AI Act is being phased in through 2026 and carries its own set of obligations, including new transparency requirements that will soon require companies to clearly disclose when consumers are interacting with chatbots, viewing AI-generated content, or encountering deepfakes 4. Firms that miss the approaching compliance deadlines risk substantial financial penalties, and businesses operating in the EU are reportedly racing to build audit-ready disclosure systems before enforcement begins in earnest 4.

Notably, Google has signaled a degree of cooperation with this parallel track, agreeing to sign onto the EU's voluntary code of practice tied to the AI Act even as other major players take a different stance 6. Meta has declined to sign the same code, exposing a split among the largest technology companies over how willingly they are prepared to embrace the bloc's emerging AI governance rules 6. That divergence suggests the DMA's search-and-Android order and the AI Act's transparency code are becoming two fronts in the same broader contest between Brussels and Silicon Valley.

Why the Fight Matters Beyond Google

Taken together, the actions reflect a deliberate European strategy to regulate AI and data practices through more than one legal mechanism at once — using the DMA to force structural changes in how dominant platforms share access and data, while using the AI Act to mandate transparency and accountability in how AI systems interact with the public 234. For everyday users, the practical stakes involve both the privacy of their search histories and the trustworthiness of the AI tools increasingly embedded in their phones.

For Google, the order adds to a growing list of regulatory obligations in Europe that could reshape how it designs Android and search products globally, since compliance systems built for the EU market often influence product decisions elsewhere 8. Whether rival AI assistants can meaningfully benefit from newly opened Android access, and whether shared search data can be structured in a way that satisfies both competition regulators and privacy advocates, will likely determine how much this intervention actually changes the competitive landscape in practice.