The company is also required to hand some search engine data to rivals.<\/b>
\nThe European Commission has started proceedings to ensure Google complies with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in certain ways. Specifically, the European Union\u2019s executive arm has told Google to grant third-party AI services the same level of access to Android that Gemini has. \u00ab\u00a0The aim is to ensure that third-party providers have an equal opportunity to innovate and compete in the rapidly evolving AI landscape on smart mobile devices\u00a0\u00bb, the Commission said in a statement.
The company will also have to hand over \u00ab\u00a0anonymized ranking, query, click and view data held by Google Search\u00a0\u00bb to rival search engines. The Commission says this will help competing companies to optimize their services and offer more viable alternatives to Google Search.
\u00ab\u00a0Today\u2019s proceedings under the Digital Markets Act will provide guidance to Google to ensure that third-party online search engines and AI providers enjoy the same access to search data and Android operating system as Google’s own services, like Google Search or Gemini\u00a0\u00bb, said Henna Virkkunen, the Commission\u2019s executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy. \u00ab\u00a0Our goal is to keep the AI market open, unlock competition on the merits and promote innovation, to the benefit of consumers and businesses.\u00a0\u00bb
The Commission plans to wrap up these proceedings in the next six months, effectively handing Google a deadline to make all of this happen. If the company doesn’t do so to the Commission’s satisfaction, it may face a formal investigation and penalties down the line. The Commission can impose fines of up to 10 percent of a company’s global annual revenue for a DMA violation.
Google was already in hot water with the EU for allegedly favoring its own services \u2014 such as travel, finance and shopping \u2014 over those from rivals and stopping Google Play app developers from easily directing consumers to alternative, cheaper ways to pay for digital goods and services. The bloc charged Google with DMA violations related to those issues last March.
In November, the EU opened an investigation into Google’s alleged demotion of commercial content on news websites in search results. The following month, it commenced a probe into Google’s AI practices, including whether the company used online publishers’ material for AI Overviews and AI Mode without \u00ab\u00a0appropriate compensation\u00a0\u00bb or offering the ability to opt out.<\/p>\n