The European Commission has ordered Google to grant rivals, including OpenAI, access to 11 features of its Android operating system and to share the search data used to optimise its services.

The mandate was given as part of a sweeping set of requirements designed to curb the tech giant’s dominance under the EU’s Digital Markets Act, according to Reuters.

The Commission set out the details of the requirements on Thursday, six months after opening specification proceedings to help the world’s most popular search engine comply with the Digital Markets Act.

Google pushed back sharply against the measures, warning they risk undermining privacy and security protections for millions of European users.

EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen said the measures are intended to open up Google’s dominant platforms to competition and give European users genuine alternatives to Google’s own services.

“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 a greater choice of services,” she said.

The Commission said Google will open up 11 features on its Android operating system to AI rivals, allowing them to access key functionalities and better compete with Google’s Gemini AI service.

Users will be able to activate a rival AI assistant through voice commands, similar to the existing “hey Google” command, to book a taxi or search for information on places, with the changes taking effect from July 2027 in the next version of Android.

On search data, the Commission said Google must share the data it collects to optimise its own search services with OpenAI and other AI chatbots that have search functionalities, subject to anonymisation requirements.

The measure, which takes effect from January next year, includes a formula to calculate the price at which shared data will be made available, according to Reuters.

The EU said the measures include robust safeguards, allowing Google to first assess whether rival companies pose cybersecurity or data protection risks before granting them access, and restricting the 11 Android features to rivals who meet defined security and privacy criteria.

On its part, Google has rejected the Commission’s findings, arguing the mandated changes would harm rather than protect European users.

“Today’s decisions risk undermining vital privacy and security guardrails for millions of Europeans,” Google’s lawyer Kent Walker said in a statement, according to Reuters.

“We have repeatedly offered solutions to safeguard users while satisfying the DMA’s goals, but these rulings discount extensive evidence of user harm,” he added, signalling that the company is likely to mount a legal challenge to the requirements.

The latest measures build on the European Commission’s ongoing crackdown on Google’s market practices under the Digital Markets Act.

Last year, Nairametrics reported that the EU accused Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company, of potentially violating the Digital Markets Act through practices involving Google Search and Google Play.

According to the Commission, Alphabet may have breached the DMA by giving preferential treatment to its own services in Google Search results and limiting app developers’ ability to direct users to alternative payment options outside the Google Play ecosystem.

The regulator said the practices could undermine the DMA’s requirement that dominant digital platforms provide fair and non-discriminatory treatment to competing services.