EU forces Google to share search data and open Android to third-party AI assistants

The European Commission announced two specification decisions targeting Google's market dominance. The first requires Google to give third-party AI providers extensive access to Android, enabling voice activation and app actions without defaulting to Gemini. The second forces Google to share anonymized search data with other search engines and AI chatbots to rebalance competition. Google and its supporters (like the Chamber of Progress) criticized the decisions, citing risks to user privacy, security, and potential data misuse similar to the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The EU counters that Google retains control via eligibility conditions and strict anonymization rules (e.g., suppressing rare items, grouping users into bundles of 1,000, and banning data linkage). Google must comply by January 2027 for search data and July 2027 for Android AI interoperability, though litigation is expected.