EU、Googleに検索データの共有とAndroid上のAI開放を正式に義務付けIt's official: EU will force Google to share search data and open up AI on Android

The European Union has issued a formal decision ordering Google to share portions of its search index data with competitors and to open its Android operating system to third-party artificial intelligence assistants on equal terms. The move, taken under the bloc's Digital Markets Act (DMA), targets two of the areas where regulators believe Google's dominance is most entrenched, and it could alter how European users discover information and interact with AI on their phones.

At the center of the search remedy is the index, the vast database Google builds by continuously crawling the web. Rival search engines have long argued that they cannot match Google's relevance and freshness because they lack comparable crawling infrastructure and the behavioral data that comes from billions of daily queries. By requiring Google to share index and related ranking signals, the EU appears to be attempting to lower the barriers that have kept smaller players such as DuckDuckGo, Ecosia, and Qwant dependent on licensing arrangements or on Microsoft's Bing index. The exact scope of what must be shared, the pricing, and the technical format will likely determine whether the remedy is meaningful in practice.

The second component concerns Android and AI assistants. Google has been integrating its Gemini models across Android, positioning them as the default assistant and embedding them in system-level features. The EU's order requires that competing assistants, potentially including those from OpenAI, Perplexity, Anthropic, or others, be able to access the same device capabilities, hooks, and default-setting opportunities that Google grants its own products. In practice, this could mean allowing users to choose a rival assistant for actions currently reserved for Google's own software, and giving third parties access to the APIs needed to function as a full replacement.

Both requirements flow from Google's designation as a "gatekeeper" under the DMA, which took effect in 2023 and applies to large platforms that control important gateways between businesses and consumers. Alphabet was named a gatekeeper for several core platform services, including Google Search, Chrome, Android, and Google Play. The law prohibits self-preferencing and mandates interoperability, and it gives the European Commission the power to impose fines of up to 10 percent of a company's global annual turnover, rising to 20 percent for repeated violations.

The decision fits into a broader pattern of European enforcement against Google. The company has already been fined billions of euros in separate antitrust cases relating to Android, Google Shopping, and its advertising technology business, some of which remain under appeal. Regulators in the United States have pursued parallel actions, including a landmark ruling that found Google maintained an illegal monopoly in search, with remedies still being debated. The European measures differ in that they are structural obligations imposed proactively rather than penalties assessed after lengthy litigation.

Google is likely to contest elements of the order. The company has historically argued that sharing index data raises privacy and security concerns and could enable low-quality or spam services to piggyback on its investment. It has also maintained that Android is already open and that users can install alternative apps freely. How the Commission balances these arguments against competitors' complaints will shape the compliance package Google eventually submits.

The stakes extend beyond the search box. AI assistants are increasingly seen as the next major interface for computing, and control over the default assistant on a smartphone can influence which services users adopt for shopping, navigation, and information retrieval. If rivals gain genuine access to Android's assistant layer, it could create openings for AI startups that would otherwise struggle to reach users pre-installed on devices. Conversely, the value of shared search data will depend heavily on implementation details that remain to be finalized.

For now, the practical impact is uncertain. Compliance under the DMA has often involved months of negotiation over technical specifics, and previous remedies, such as the browser and search-engine choice screens introduced across the EU, have produced mixed results. Whether this latest intervention meaningfully shifts market share, or merely adds another layer of obligations that Google absorbs while retaining its lead, will become clearer as the details are worked out and rivals test what the new access actually allows them to build.