Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly embedded in how people use their phones – users can summon an AI assistant to draft a message, plan a trip, shop and more. But every assistant must reach the user through a mobile operating system, two of which dominate the global market: Apple’s iOS and Alphabet’s Google Android. Because most people carry only one phone, whoever controls the mobile operating system controls which AI services can compete
On Android today, the features that an AI assistant needs to function – the gesture that invokes it, the on-screen context it reads, the actions it can take inside apps, the on-device models it can run – are reserved for Google’s own Gemini. This repeats the playbook Google used to monopolise search engines, which, like AI, improve with use, meaning that a market that tips towards Google could extend Google’s advantage fast and prove hard to reverse
The European Commission’s first specification under Article 6(7) of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) – with a final decision expected on 27 July 2026, six months after proceedings were opened – meets this threat directly. It requires Google to open those access points to rival assistants on equally effective terms, free of charge. Taking this action now is critical to preventing an AI monopoly from forming, rather than spending the next decade trying to dismantle one
This case suggests how judicious and timely application of the DMA can preserve a level playing field and make Europe an attractive place to build and fund AI companies. In Europe, AI entrants will have a route to market and a revenue model; facilitating market entry for AI firms will foster innovation and help to close the European Union’s innovation gap in AI development. One potential gap remains: on iOS, theApple-Google Gemini partnership could quietly close the other major route to rivals, and deserves an investigation of its own.
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Authors
Fiona M. Scott Morton
Bruegel Senior Fellow
Theme
Microeconomic policies
Keyword
digital economyartificial intelligencetechnologyinnovationcompetition policy
Language
English
