Google challenges EU orders to open up to AI, search engine rivals

Alphabet’s Google has contested two EU orders requiring it to facilitate access to its services and search data for rivals like OpenAI and AI developers. The US tech giant contends that these compliance measures under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) would jeopardise user privacy and security. The EU ordered Google in July to help online search rivals and AI developers utilise services accessible to its Gemini AI model.

Google has appealed the decisions to the European General Court, claiming that sharing users’ private search histories would erode vital security protections on Android devices. Google’s senior director of competition, Oliver Bethell, emphasised that users utilise Search for personal queries, and mandating the sharing of such queries without adequate safeguards would cause irreversible harm to user privacy.

The European Commission, enforcing the DMA, asserts that the measures incorporate robust safeguards for user privacy, device integrity, and security. DuckDuckGo, a privacy-focused search engine, also supports the EU regulators, stating that the anonymisation framework is robust, and any appeal by Google would merely grant it additional time.