The European Commission’s first Digital Markets Act Article 6(7) specification, issued in draft form in April 2026, is a substantive and well-targeted intervention. It identifies the access points that determine whether an artificial-intelligence assistant can function effectively on a Google Android device (through invocation surfaces, contextual data, on-device actions and system-level model resources) and it requires Google to share those access points with qualifying rival providers on terms equivalent to those Google’s own services receive. If the specification is finalised and enforced as drafted, it will prevent monopolisation of AI services and shortcut the need for a long and ineffective antitrust case.
The specification may also create a valuable side effect: a material increase in AI innovation in Europe. European AI entrants and non-European AI providers serving European consumers will see that Europe is a level playing field on which innovators can compete. The merits of an AI service, rather than whether it already owns a distribution channel, will determine its commercial success. The expected return from founding an AI company in Europe would rise accordingly, as would the expected return from investing in one.
The remaining gap is on the iOS side. It seems likely that Apple will not want to wait too long before selling Siri-enabled handsets to 500 million European citizens. Apple’s compliance with the DMA will determine if the Apple-Google Gemini partnership needs to be investigated to ensure it does not lessen competition in AI services in Europe
Authors
Fiona M. Scott Morton
Theme
Microeconomic policies
Keyword
digital economyartificial intelligencetechnologyinnovationcompetition policy
Language
English
