EU orders Google to open Android to rival AI assistants under the DMA

Android AI assistants just got their biggest unlock yet, courtesy of Brussels. On July 16, 2026, the European Commission adopted two binding decisions under the Digital Markets Act, and both aim directly at Google’s grip on the world’s most popular mobile operating system.

System-level access for rival assistants

The first decision requires Google to open 11 Android feature groups to rival AI assistants, from voice activation to acting across apps, with the same system-level access it reserves for Gemini.

In practice, that means you will be able to summon a non-Google assistant by voice on Android and let it draft emails, order food, or pull a flight number from your inbox. Capabilities that were previously a Gemini exclusive become a level playing field, at least for users in the EU.

Search data on fair terms

The second decision forces Google to share anonymized search query, click and ranking data with competing search engines and AI developers on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms. The anonymization is to be designed together with privacy experts.

Google is not happy. The company says the decisions “risk undermining vital privacy and security guardrails for millions of Europeans” and that its proposed alternatives were discounted.

Why the AI assistant race just changed

For OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity and everyone else building agents, this is a door into Android that Google could not open voluntarily. The assistant race has so far been fought on model quality and apps; deep OS integration was the moat no rival could cross. Brussels just legislated a bridge over it.

The rollout details will matter enormously: how the access works technically, how fast rivals can ship, and whether users actually switch their default assistant when a rival works as deeply as Gemini does. But the direction is set, and it points away from a one-assistant Android.