EU Gives Google Six Months to Open Android to Rival AI Search

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

European regulators have escalated pressure on Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), signaling that the company could face further regulatory consequences if it fails to adjust its Android and search operations under the European Union’s Digital Markets Act. EU watchdogs said they have opened proceedings to assess whether Google is meeting its obligations to remove technical barriers for rival AI search assistants on Android and to provide competing search engines with access to key search data under fair conditions. While the move stops short of a formal investigation, the company has been given six months to demonstrate compliance, or potentially face additional action from Brussels.

EU competition chief Teresa Ribera said the proceedings are intended to clarify how Google should meet its interoperability and online search data-sharing requirements under the DMA. The process is designed to push the company to re-engineer parts of its services, allowing greater access to Android’s operating system and to valuable search data for rival firms. Google has pushed back on the approach, with senior competition counsel Clare Kelly warning that further rules, which the company says are often driven by competitor complaints rather than consumer interests, could raise concerns around user privacy, security, and innovation.

The latest development adds to a widening set of regulatory challenges for Alphabet’s Google in Europe. The company is already facing expected penalties under the DMA over allegations that it favors its own services in search and restricts app developers from steering users to offers outside its Play Store, while a separate probe is examining whether certain news results are being unfairly demoted. Together, these cases could add to Google’s existing 9.5 billion EU fines and further strain relations with the Trump administration, with regulators leaving open the possibility of a formal probe and potential fines of up to 10% of global annual sales if compliance efforts fall short.