The European Union has issued two new rules for Google to force it to share search data and open up its Android operating system to rival AI companies.
In its latest move, the EU said that it will support innovation and diversity in the field by enabling fair access to AI features on Android devices and search engines.
In issuing the two new rules, the commission stated that it found that AI agents not made by Google were unable to function on Android phones at the same level as Google’s Gemini. Google must now allow voice-activation of these alternative AI agents and enable them to run background tasks like booking restaurants via third-party apps.
By January 2027, Google must also begin sharing anonymized search data with some rivals. The commission said that the move is meant to level the playing field since Google controls a vast trove of user data that no competitor can match.
The measure is the latest advancement of Brussels’ growing rules and regulations that have given the 27-nation bloc a global leadership position in checking the power of tech juggernauts or “gatekeepers” like TikTok, which are largely based in China and the U.S. Recently, Brussels has pushed through efforts to ensure Google gives access to Gemini AI services to rival AI companies and search engines; forced Apple to add interoperability features to its devices to connect to non-Apple products; and demanded Meta dismantle “key addictive features” like infinite scrolling.
Early this month, judges at the European Union’s top court dismissed an appeal by Google over a landmark, 4.1 billion euro ($4.5 billion) antitrust fine imposed for throttling competition and reducing consumer choice through the dominance of its mobile Android operating system.
The case has been tangled up in courts since the European Commission announced the fine in 2018. However, the European Court of Justice dismissal marked the end of that process. “The appeal brought by Google and its parent company Alphabet against the judgment of the General Court is dismissed, thereby confirming the penalty imposed for Google Search’s abuse of a dominant position in the context of the Android operating system,” the Luxembourg-based judges wrote in their ruling.
Google previously argued free and open-source Android has resulted in low-cost phones and driven competition with its chief rival, Apple. Android is the most popular mobile operating system, beating even Apple’s iOS.
The fine is one of three antitrust penalties totaling more than $8 billion that the European Commission slapped on Google between 2017 and 2019, putting the 27-nation bloc at the forefront of the global push to rein in tech giants.
Since then, the commission has widened its crackdown on digital giants with more antitrust investigations targeting Amazon, Apple and Facebook and sweeping new rules aimed at clamping down on the biggest digital companies.
EU Official Hails New Rules For Google
Henna Virkkunen, an Executive Vice President at the European Commission overseeing tech, welcomed the new rules, saying, “Thanks to these measures, we hope to see emerging alternatives to Google Search and Google’s AI services, such as Gemini, and that users in the EU can enjoy greater choice of services.”
However, Kent Walker, President of global affairs for both Google and its parent company Alphabet, said that the new rules could backfire by removing safeguards that the company had built to protect user privacy like the vetting of third-party AI assistants.
“Europeans’ private searches would be exposed to unfamiliar companies, without adequate anonymization of the data and without user knowledge or consent. This would weaken citizens’ privacy, risk business trade secrets, and endanger national security.”
Kent Walker
Google Likely To Be Held Liable For Commercial Partners’ Content On YouTube
Also today, the European Court of Justice ruled that Google may be held legally liable for content on Youtube when it is made by a commercial partner.
The case follows Google decision to challenge a €750,000 fine imposed by an Italian court in 2022 in relation to content that promoted online gambling, in breach of Italian law. The administrative court in Italy had ordered Google to remove the videos from the YouTube which the US tech firm owns.
The ECJ found that the legal premise for the fine did fall within EU law on electronic commerce. In addition, it rejected arguments Google could be exempt from regulations concerning content in this case because the YouTube video did not arrive on the platform through “automated and passive activity excluding any knowledge or control over the information which is transmitted or stored.”
“That is not the case where an operator reviews, for the purpose of concluding a commercial partnership contract, the main theme of a video channel, that channel’s most viewed videos or newest videos and the associated metadata. The operator thus acquires specific knowledge of the essential content of a set of videos and cannot therefore claim to act as an intermediary service provider.”
ECJ judges
