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Google Takes EU Data-Sharing Orders to Court in Escalating DMA Fight

By  |  September 29, 2026
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Google is challenging two European Union orders that would require the technology giant to give artificial-intelligence developers and rival search providers greater access to its services and data, escalating a dispute over how far regulators can go in opening dominant digital platforms to competitors.

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    The Alphabet Inc. unit filed challenges Monday with the EU’s General Court in Luxembourg, according to Reuters. The measures stem from the bloc’s Digital Markets Act, or DMA, and are scheduled to take effect in 2027.

    EU antitrust regulators ordered Google in July to make services available through its Gemini artificial-intelligence system more accessible to competing AI developers and to provide eligible search-engine rivals with certain search data, Reuters reported. The requirements are part of the European Commission’s effort to use the DMA to reduce barriers faced by companies competing with some of the world’s largest technology platforms.

    Google argues that the measures go too far and could expose sensitive information about users while weakening security protections.

    Oliver Bethell, Google’s senior director of competition, said the company was appealing requirements that it believes could result in private search information being shared without adequate anonymization and could reduce Android security protections, according to Reuters. Bethell said search queries can contain deeply personal information, including questions involving health and relationships.

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    The European Commission has rejected the contention that its requirements leave users inadequately protected. The regulator says the measures include safeguards covering privacy, device integrity and security, Reuters reported.

    Related: Google Faces UK Plan to Open Android and Chrome Search to AI Rivals

    The dispute highlights a central tension in the EU’s effort to reshape competition in digital markets: regulators want companies designated as powerful technology gatekeepers to provide rivals with greater access to data and platform functions, while Google says some of those obligations risk compromising protections for its users.

    Under the search-related measure, eligible competitors are expected to gain access to anonymized information that could help them improve their own services. The broader regulatory intervention is intended to make it easier for smaller search and AI companies to compete with Google’s entrenched products.

    DuckDuckGo, the privacy-focused search provider and a Google competitor, has sided with the European Commission in the dispute. A company spokesperson said the anonymization framework was sufficiently strong and argued that Google’s legal challenge would primarily delay implementation, according to Reuters.

    The court cases add another front to Google’s regulatory battles in Europe, where authorities have increasingly relied on the DMA to impose operational requirements on large technology companies rather than relying solely on traditional antitrust investigations.

    Source: Reuters