BRUSSELS, September 29, 2026: Alphabet’s Google has challenged two European Union measures requiring it to open parts of its Android services to rival artificial intelligence providers and share anonymised Google Search data with competing search engines.
Google filed the legal challenges with the Luxembourg-based General Court, escalating its dispute with EU regulators over the implementation of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The measures were adopted by the European Commission in July and are scheduled for implementation over the coming months.
The first measure concerns interoperability on Android and requires Google to provide third-party AI services with access to certain features used by its own AI services, including Gemini. The second requires Google to provide eligible search competitors with access to anonymised ranking, query, click and view data collected by Google Search.
Google argues that the requirements could expose sensitive information and weaken security protections on Android devices.
“We’re appealing decisions that will force us to share people’s private search history without sufficient anonymisation and weaken vital security protections on Android,” Google senior director of competition Oliver Bethell said in a statement.
Bethell said people use Google Search for highly personal questions, including medical concerns and relationship issues, and argued that sharing such information without adequate safeguards could harm user privacy.
The European Commission has rejected those concerns, saying its measures include safeguards designed to protect users’ privacy, device integrity and security. For Search data, the Commission says the information must be anonymised before it is shared, while additional technical and contractual measures are intended to reduce the risk of re-identification.
The Commission also says the measures do not require Google to share its search algorithm or technology. Instead, competitors would receive selected ranking, query, click and view data to help develop and improve their own search services.
Under the EU framework, Google Search has been designated as a gatekeeper service under the DMA. The legislation requires Alphabet to provide eligible third-party search engines with access to anonymised search data on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms.
The European Commission says AI chatbots that provide search functionality can qualify for access, subject to eligibility requirements and data-protection safeguards.
Privacy-focused search company DuckDuckGo has supported the Commission’s approach, arguing that the anonymisation framework is sufficiently robust and that Google’s legal challenge could delay implementation.
The dispute adds another layer to Google’s broader confrontation with EU regulators over the Digital Markets Act. In July, the Commission also fined Google €890 million in two separate DMA cases involving alleged self-preferencing in Google Search and restrictions on alternative purchasing channels through Google Play.
The latest legal challenges will now be considered by the EU’s General Court, leaving the implementation and interpretation of the disputed measures subject to further legal proceedings.
