Google required to open up to AI, search engine rivals under EU-mandated changes

By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS, July 16 (Reuters) - Alphabet's Google will have to help OpenAI and other AI rivals as well as online search engine competitors access its services to comply with EU rules curbing the power of Big Tech, EU regulators said as they set out the details of the requirements.

The move by the European Commission, which acts as the EU competition enforcer, came six months after the regulator opened so-called specification proceedings to assist ​the world's most popular internet search engine to comply with the Digital Markets ​Act.

Google reiterated its criticism of the EU-mandated changes.

"Today's decisions risk undermining vital privacy and security guardrails for millions of Europeans," Google's lawyer Kent Walker said in an email.

"We have repeatedly offered solutions to safeguard users while satisfying the DMA's goals, but these rulings discount extensive evidence of user harm," he said.

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

This would mean that users can activate a rival AI assistant via voice commands, similar to the 'hey Google' command, to book a taxi or search for information on places. Users will benefit from the changes from July 2027 in the next iteration of Android.

The Commission said the measures contain robust safeguards to protect users' privacy and device security, and that Google will only offer the 11 features to rivals who fulfil security and privacy criteria.

The EU decision also requires Google to share the data that it collects to optimise its own search services with OpenAI and other AI chatbots with search functionalities, subject to anonymisation.

Google can first assess whether rivals pose cybersecurity and data protection risks before it opens up to them. The EU measure, which will be implemented from January next year, includes a formula to calculate the price of the shared data.

"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," EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen said in a statement.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)