The European Commission has had enough. After months of probing how Google locks Gemini into the Android operating system, regulators are now demanding that the search giant open up its platform to rival AI assistants. The move, grounded in the Digital Markets Act (DMA), targets Google’s systematic practice of giving Gemini privileged system level access while starving competitors like ChatGPT, Grok, or smaller open source models of the same capabilities. This is not a suggestion. This is a regulatory ultimatum with teeth.
What the EU Wants: Real Interoperability, Not Lip Service
The commission’s proposal is refreshingly specific. They want third party AI assistants to be invocable via hardware buttons and hotwords, just like Gemini. They want those assistants to see what’s on your screen, access your local data for proactive suggestions, and even control apps on your behalf. That last point is particularly cutting: Google recently demonstrated Gemini controlling apps on the Galaxy S26, and it was clumsy. The EU is essentially asking, why should only Google’s buggy attempt get the keys to the castle? Regulators are also demanding that Google create new APIs and provide free technical support to competitors, so they can run local AI models with the same performance as Gemini. If Google drags its feet, it faces fines of up to 10 percent of its annual global revenue.
Google’s Hollow Defenses
The company’s response is predictable theater. Google’s senior competition counsel Claire Kelly called the proposal an ‘unwarranted intervention’ that would ‘strip away autonomy’ and ‘mandate access to sensitive hardware.’ This is a classic gatekeeper dodge: pretending that forced openness is somehow a security risk, when the real risk is to their bottom line. Google currently uses system level defaults to funnel users toward Gemini, not because it’s better, but because it’s unavoidable. The EU’s track record here is strong: they’ve already forced Google to offer search choice screens, allow third party payment systems in the Play Store, and limit data cross pollination. Expect the commission to finalize its decision by July 27. The window for feedback closes May 13. Google can complain all it wants, but the DMA wasn’t designed to be comfortable for monopolists.
Source: Arstechnica
