Google Outmaneuvers Apple in EU AI Regulation Battle
· 4 min read ·
The European Union has ordered Google to grant rival AI assistants greater access to Android, the open-source operating system running on billions of devices globally. While the directive may appear to be a setback for the tech giant, it actually represents a regulatory victory — and a sign that Google has played Brussels' rulebook more shrewdly than its rival Apple.
EU Demands Equal Access Under Digital Markets Act
In one of two decisions announced on Thursday, the European Commission — the EU's executive body responsible for enforcing competition rules — ruled that Google must provide competing AI assistants with the same system features and data access that it gives to its own Gemini assistant. The order flows from the Digital Markets Act (DMA), legislation requiring dominant platforms designated as "gatekeepers" to offer competitors access to systems and data comparable to what their own services enjoy.
Crucially, Google has been given until July 2027 to implement these changes. That timeline grants the company roughly a year to continue expanding Gemini, negotiate technical specifics with EU regulators, and determine how rival assistants will eventually connect to Android. Google could still challenge the ruling in court, though it has not indicated whether it plans to do so and declined to comment publicly when questioned.
Google has consistently argued that opening its systems risks compromising user safety, security, and privacy. Despite that stated opposition, the extended compliance window reinforces an already formidable advantage. Gemini is already deeply embedded across Android and frequently comes preinstalled as the default AI assistant on numerous devices, meaning Google can solidify its market position before competitors like OpenAI and Anthropic obtain equivalent access.
Apple Takes a Different Path — and Loses
Google's approach of launching first and negotiating with regulators afterward stands in sharp contrast to Apple's strategy. When Apple unveiled its long-anticipated Siri AI assistant, the company prominently announced that the feature would not launch in Europe because of DMA requirements.
As with Android, the Commission told Apple it would need to provide third-party assistants with access to key systems, features, and data comparable to what Siri AI uses. Apple countered that doing so "would be irresponsible" and would create unacceptable privacy and security risks. The company requested 18 months to build a compliant version and roll out the required interoperability gradually. The Commission rejected that proposal outright.
Apple currently has no public timeline for when — or even whether — Siri AI will arrive in the EU, and did not respond to media inquiries on the matter. Google, by contrast, secured precisely the kind of compliance grace period that Apple sought for Siri AI: time to align with the DMA while keeping its AI assistant on the market.
Divergent Strategies, Shared Opposition
The split may partly reflect where each company's AI assistant stood when the DMA began influencing product decisions. Gemini has been a cornerstone of Google's AI strategy for years and is widely distributed across the company's ecosystem, giving Google strong incentive to remain in the European market and work through compliance issues as they arise. Apple, on the other hand, only recently unveiled its new Siri AI and opted to withhold it from the EU, despite having had years during the product's development to anticipate the DMA's requirements.
Apple also chose to weaponize Siri AI's absence politically, apparently hoping public pressure would force Brussels to soften its interoperability demands. The company took the unusual step of dedicating part of its WWDC 2026 keynote to explaining why Siri AI would not reach Europe, published a pointed blog post titled "Due to DMA, Siri AI delayed in EU for iOS 27 and iPadOS 27," and held media briefings on the issue. Notably, Apple revealed that China would also miss out on Siri AI through a single-sentence footnote. The messaging consistently cast Brussels — rather than Apple's own product decisions — as the cause of the delay.
Behind the scenes, however, the divide may be less pronounced than it appears publicly. Both Google and Apple vehemently oppose the DMA's interoperability requirements, framing them as threats to privacy, security, and product integrity. The two companies have also collaborated on integrating Gemini into Apple's AI products, including Siri AI, making it plausible that they have maintained communication while pursuing different tactics to resist the same regulatory constraints.
For now, the contrast remains unmistakable. Google has secured a year to bring Android into compliance while continuing to grow Gemini's footprint. Brussels denied Apple that runway, and there is no clear indication of when Siri AI will reach European users. As the DMA continues to reshape how tech giants operate within the EU, the divergent fates of Gemini and Siri AI offer a revealing case study in regulatory strategy. Share this article and join the conversation — do you think the EU's approach to AI interoperability will help or hurt innovation?
