The Google DMA appeal asks the EU General Court in Luxembourg to overturn two European Commission orders that would open Android to rival AI assistants and make it share Search data. The orders were adopted on 16 July 2026 and start taking effect in January 2027. Google filed on Tuesday 29 September 2026.
What Google Is Challenging
The appeal targets two binding specification decisions the Commission issued on the same day under the Digital Markets Act, the EU law that sets conduct rules for the largest technology platforms.
The first requires Google to give competing AI services the same reach into Android that its own assistant, Gemini, already has. The second requires it to share anonymised Search data — queries, clicks and rankings — with eligible third-party search providers, a group the Commission has defined to include AI chatbots that offer search.
Reports differ on the mechanics of the filing: some describe two separate actions lodged on 28 September, others a single consolidated challenge filed on 29 September. Google confirmed the appeal publicly on Tuesday 29 September 2026.
What Rival AI Assistants Would Get on Your Android Phone
The Android decision covers eleven capabilities, split between six that any qualifying assistant can use and five that require Google’s certification first.
| Capability | What It Means on the Phone | Certification Needed |
|---|---|---|
| Ambient data | Microphone, system audio, camera, what is on screen, location and sensors | No |
| Always-on hotword detection | A wake word that fires with the screen off | No |
| Long-press invocation | Launching the assistant from the power button | No |
| System-level on-device models | Use of the models built into the handset | No |
| Third-party model implementation | Running the assistant’s own model on the device | No |
| Background execution | Continuing to work when it is not the open app | No |
| Centralised on-device data (AppSearch) | Reading the shared index of what is stored on the phone | Yes |
| Context-aware intelligence | Proactive suggestions of the kind Google offers through Magic Cue | Yes |
| Structured app integration | App Actions and App Functions, so it can act inside other apps | Yes |
| Screen automation | Computer Control, driving apps by imitating taps and typing | Yes |
| System integration | Settings, media, screenshots, notifications and power | Yes |
The breakdown of the eleven capabilities into these two groups comes from The Hacker News’s reading of the decision documents. In the Commission’s own plainer description, the outcome is that a user will be able to summon a preferred assistant with a spoken phrase in the way “Hey Google” works today, and ask a third-party assistant to carry out tasks such as booking a taxi inside other apps.
In practice the named beneficiaries are the assistants already competing with Gemini, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude. Gemini’s position on Android is the reason the order exists at all, after Google replaced Google Assistant with Gemini across its devices.
The Dates That Matter
Two dates come from the Commission directly; the finer schedule below was compiled by The Hacker News from the decision documents and has not been restated by the Commission in those terms.
| Date | What Is Due |
|---|---|
| End of August 2026 | Google publishes eligibility forms and a webpage for search-data applicants |
| November 2026 | The finished search dataset is delivered |
| January 2027 | Search data sharing begins and pricing is announced |
| 1 February 2027 | Draft programme terms due |
| 1 May 2027 | Final terms published and applications open |
| July 2027 | Users start benefiting from the Android changes |
| Android 18, or 1 August 2027 at the latest | The eleven capabilities must be available |
| 1 August 2028 | Several assistants can run hotword detection at the same time |
What Google Argues
Google’s case rests on privacy and device security rather than on competition.
Oliver Bethell, Google’s senior director for competition, said the company is “appealing decisions that will force us to share people’s private search history without sufficient anonymisation and weaken vital security protections on Android”. He added that people bring Search their most personal questions, from medical worries to close relationships, and that sharing those queries without adequate safeguards would cause irreversible harm to user privacy.
When the decisions were adopted in July, Kent Walker, Google’s president of global affairs, argued that the Android order threatens device security by granting external apps sensitive and powerful permissions, and that handset makers currently vet which assistants get that access. Google also maintains that Android is already open to other services.
What the Commission Says About Privacy
The Commission’s position is that the safeguards are built into the decisions rather than left to Google.
It states that the measures “incorporate robust safeguards to ensure that the privacy of users, device integrity and security are protected”, and describes the anonymisation as a multi-layered method developed with privacy experts and aligned with GDPR guidance.
According to The Hacker News’s account of the documents, that method strips direct identifiers, suppresses queries containing rare terms, and then generalises metadata by location, device type and language until every user sits in a group of at least 1,000. Data reaches recipients at least seven days old, and a given recipient’s access ends after five years. To qualify, a search provider must have averaged 50,000 monthly EU users over the past year, must not be under sanctions, and must not be controlled from a country the EU treats as a serious and structural cybersecurity or data protection risk.
Google is also able to assess whether a particular recipient poses a serious security or data protection risk. This is not the company’s only open front with European regulators; it was fined €403 million over location data in September, and DMA compliance has already changed how Search displays hotel and flight prices in Europe.
What Happens to the Deadlines Now
As of 30 September 2026, none of the deadlines has been changed, and the Commission has not said it will pause them.
Neither Google nor the Commission has stated publicly whether compliance is suspended while the case is heard, and Google has not said whether it asked the court for interim relief alongside the main action. Cases at the General Court routinely take years, which means the January 2027 search-data date and the 2027 Android date both fall well before any judgment is likely.
The Commission has kept a separate power to open a non-compliance case, with fines attached, if Google misses the specifications. No such case has been opened.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is Google’s DMA Appeal About?
It challenges two European Commission decisions of 16 July 2026: one opening Android features to competing AI assistants, the other requiring Google to share anonymised Search data with rival search providers and AI chatbots.
Will ChatGPT Get the Same Android Access as Gemini?
That is what the Commission has ordered, covering eleven capabilities including the wake word, the camera and microphone, and the ability to act inside other apps. Five of the eleven require Google’s certification first.
Does the Appeal Stop the Changes From Happening?
Not on the public record. No deadline has been moved, and neither side has said compliance is paused while the court considers the case.
When Would Android Users Notice a Difference?
The Commission expects users to benefit from July 2027. The capabilities are due with the Android 18 release or by 1 August 2027, whichever comes first.
Which Countries Does This Cover?
The European Union. The Digital Markets Act applies to the EU market, so the changes are not guaranteed to reach Android phones elsewhere.
