News · curated 17 Jul 2026
E.U. Orders Google to Open Android Mic, Camera and Screen to Rival AI Assistants
First reported thehackernews.com
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Why it matters
Mandating that third-party AI assistants receive privileged access to Android's camera, microphone, screen, and background app-control significantly expands the agentic-AI attack surface on billions of devices, a concern Google itself frames as a security and privacy risk.
The European Commission ordered Google under the Digital Markets Act to give rival AI assistants the same deep Android access that Gemini has — camera, microphone, on-screen content, an always-on wake word, and the ability to drive other apps in the background by imitating taps and typing — to be shipped in Android 18 by 1 August 2027. Google publicly argued that the DMA interoperability mandate should not undercut the security and privacy of European users.