EU orders Google to hand search data to rivals by January 2027

The European Commission on Thursday ordered Google to comply with the EU's Big Tech rulebook by sharing search data with competing search engines and letting rival AI chatbots onto its Android mobile platform, Report informs via Euractiv.

The legally binding decisions fall under the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA), which regulates Google's search engine and mobile OS on account of their market power.

The US tech giant must start sharing search data with eligible search engines from January 2027. While Android users should be able to use third-party AI assistants – as an alternative to Google's own Gemini AI chatbot – from July 2027 via a software update.

The confirmed obligations arise after the Commission's preliminary orders in April. It opened the two DMA "specification proceedings" in January, establishing a regulatory dialogue with Google to define how it should comply.

As it stands, the Commission said third-party AI assistants are restricted from fully accessing Android devices (60% of EU smartphone users) – creating an unfair advantage for Google's Gemini.

An early intervention was needed to ensure Google's AI chatbot does not become the only choice for Android users, a senior Commission official told journalists on Thursday.

The measures it's adopted order Google to open up 11 Android features to AI rivals – which the official described as "core building blocks" to ensure AI assistants are fully featured and attractive to users – including easily being able to launch an AI using a voice prompt and seamlessly integrating with other apps on the device.

In the second proceeding, Google was instructed to share raw search data with rival search engines and chatbots that have web search functionality. The bloc hopes this will boost competition – noting Google currently has around a 90% share of the market in Europe.

A Commission official suggested that including AI chatbots as recipients of Google search data would lead to users having a more competitive choice of web search services.

The EU's executive also flagged a range of privacy safeguards that have been applied to manage risks associated with the data sharing, such as use of a multi-layered approach to anonymise data fully.

Google will also be allowed to assess whether search info poses serious cybersecurity or privacy risks before sharing.

Nonetheless, Google claimed that the EU's actions would undermine user privacy.

In an email statement, Kent Walker, its president of global affairs, warned that "Europeans" private searches would be exposed to unfamiliar companies".