Brussels tells Google to open Android's mic, camera and screen to rival AI assistants

Key points

• The European Commission on Thursday ordered Google to give rival AI assistants the same access to Android phones that its own Gemini assistant enjoys.
• Competitors must be allowed to use the camera, microphone, on-screen content, a wake word that works with the screen off, and background control of other apps.
• Google has to deliver the changes in Android 18, the next major version of its phone software, with a final deadline of 1 August 2027.
• The order applies across the European Union and covers assistants from any competing developer, not a chosen shortlist.

The European Commission has told Google to stop reserving Android's best capabilities for its own AI assistant.

Thursday's order, first reported by The Hacker News, requires rival assistants to get the same deep access Gemini already has. Camera. Microphone. Whatever is showing on screen. A wake word that fires when the display is dark. The ability to drive other apps in the background by mimicking taps and typed input, the same mechanism Gemini uses when it books a restaurant or fills a form. Google must ship the changes in Android 18, its next major phone operating system release, with everything in place by 1 August 2027. Our coverage of the Digital Markets Act goes back to [3 July](/ story/google-loses-final-eu-appeal-must-pay-euro41-billion-android-fine), when we reported Google's failed appeal against its €4.1 billion Android fine.

What does this actually change on my phone?

Android users in Europe will eventually be able to choose a non-Google assistant and have it do what only Gemini can do today.

Right now, a rival assistant runs hobbled. It can't always listen for a wake word when the screen is off. It can't see which app is in front of you. It can't slip into your calendar and add an entry the way Gemini can. Google's own assistant has none of those limits, and that is precisely what Brussels is objecting to.

The Commission's position: that gap is an unfair advantage, and Android's scale means the advantage skews the entire AI assistant market.

Why is Europe pushing this now?

The order sits under the Digital Markets Act, the EU law designating a small number of very large tech companies as "gatekeepers" and requiring them to let competitors connect to their platforms on equal terms. Google was designated a gatekeeper for Android in 2023, and regulators have spent the intervening time identifying which access points remain closed to outsiders. Voice assistants are the latest.

Brussels' argument is that as AI assistants become the dominant way people discover and act on information through a phone, controlling the assistant means controlling much of what comes next.

Google has argued previously that opening these interfaces raises genuine safety and privacy concerns, given how much personal data an assistant with microphone and screen access can collect. The Commission's counter is straightforward: Gemini already holds that access, so the debate isn't about whether to permit it, only about whether to permit it exclusively for Google.

Should you worry?

Not urgently. The rules don't take effect until Android 18 lands, and the outer deadline is nearly two years out.

When the change does arrive, treat any new assistant the way you'd treat a powerful app. Check the permissions it requests. Be cautious about any assistant that wants microphone access from a developer you don't recognise. Software that can see your screen and operate your apps is, by design, unusually capable. That's an asset when it's trustworthy, and a serious exposure when it isn't.

For businesses running fleets of Android devices, the practical work starts now. Mobile device management policies written around Gemini being the only assistant with deep system access will need rewriting before staff start sideloading alternatives with the same reach. Two years sounds comfortable; procurement and policy cycles rarely are.