Google and Apple are clashing with the EU over the future of AI assistants - CNN
The European Commission is challenging Apple and Google to open their smartphone operating systems to third-party AI assistants under the Digital Markets Act. While the EU argues this promotes competition, the tech giants claim it poses significant security and privacy risks.
Why it matters
This conflict highlights the tension between regulatory efforts to curb Big Tech monopolies and the security concerns inherent in opening closed software ecosystems.
Google and Apple have a big leg up in the AI race: their control of billions of smartphones around the world. That’s according to the European Commission, which is now cracking down on what that means for AI assistants. Apple and Google have long dominated the smartphone market, combining for roughly 5 billion active Android phones and iPhones worldwide, according to market research firm Omdia. And as AI continues to become more ubiquitous and specialized, the two tech giants are enabling their AI assistants to help complete tasks rather than just answer questions. But the European Commission wants other virtual assistants to be just as prominent on smartphones as Google’s Gemini and Apple’s Siri. It’s now demanding that Google give other AI agents broader access to Android by July 2027.
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