European Commission Outlines How Google Must Change Android for AI Services

The European Commission (EC) informed Google today what it must do to make Android more interoperable and comply with its legal responsibilities under the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

“These preliminary findings outline the draft measures Google should implement to ensure that third parties have effective access and interoperability with key capabilities of Android,” the EC announced. “The proposed measures aim to ensure that competing AI services can effectively interact with applications on users’ Android devices and execute tasks accordingly, such as sending an email using the user’s preferred email app, ordering food or sharing a photo with friends. Currently, Google largely reserves these capabilities for use by its own AI offerings on Android phones and tablets.”

Among other things, the EC would like to require Google to allow competing AI services to be triggered in Android using a custom wake word, a feature Android currently reserves solely for Google’s Gemini AI.

“Today’s proposed measures will give more choice to Android users about ⁠the AI services they use and integrate in their phone, including from the vast range of AI services that compete with Google’s own AI,” an EC statement explains.

The Commission has set up a feedback forum for interested parties to see whether its proposed changes to Android meet the needs of competitors. It will remain open until May 13, 2026 after which time it will review the feedback and issue a final determination of Google’s responsibilities. Android, like Google Search, Google Play, Google Maps, and YouTube, is considered a gatekeeper, or core platform service, that requires stronger regulation because of its dominance.

Google obviously opposes these changes.

“This unwarranted intervention would strip away that autonomy, mandate access to sensitive hardware and device permissions; unnecessarily driving up costs while undermining critical privacy and security protections for European users,” a Google statement notes.