Same EU Law, Two Very Different Outcomes for Google and Apple's AI Assistants

The European Commission handed down two rulings on Thursday that, on the surface, look like matching defeats for Google and Apple. Both companies have to let rival AI assistants plug into their platforms with the same kind of access their own AI gets. But look closer, and one company clearly played its hand better than the other.

Google has to open up Android so that competing AI assistants get comparable system features and data access to what Gemini already enjoys. That's the requirement under the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA), which forces "gatekeeper" platforms to give rivals a fair shot at the same hooks into the operating system that the gatekeeper's own products use. The twist is timing: Google has until July 2027 to comply, according to the Commission's decision reported by The Verge. That's roughly a year of runway to keep building out Gemini, hash out technical specifics with regulators, and effectively set the terms for how competitors like OpenAI and Anthropic eventually connect to Android.

Google hasn't said whether it will challenge the ruling in court and declined to comment on the record. But the company has been vocal about not wanting to open its systems at all, arguing that doing so threatens user safety, security, and privacy.

Apple's situation looks very different. When it unveiled its long-delayed Siri AI last month, Apple announced upfront that the feature simply wouldn't launch in Europe, citing the DMA. The Commission's parallel ruling requires Apple to give third-party assistants access to Siri AI's systems and data comparable to what Siri itself gets. Apple pushed back hard, calling that requirement "irresponsible" and warning of unacceptable privacy and security risks. The company asked for 18 months to build a compliant version, proposing to roll out interoperability gradually. Brussels said no.

The upshot: Google secured the very kind of grace period that Apple asked for and didn't get. Gemini stays live in the EU while Google works toward compliance. Siri AI has no such path — and no public timeline for when, or if, it arrives in Europe. Apple didn't respond to The Verge's request for comment.

Why the same law produced two outcomes

Part of the divergence comes down to where each product stood when the DMA started shaping decisions. Gemini has been central to Google's AI push for years and is already baked into Android, often shipping as the default assistant on many devices. That gave Google every incentive to stay in the market and sort out regulatory compliance on the fly, rather than pull the product. Apple, by contrast, revealed its new Siri AI only recently, despite having years of advance notice about what the DMA would eventually require, and chose to keep it out of the EU entirely rather than launch and negotiate.

Apple also took a more combative public approach. It devoted part of its WWDC 2026 keynote specifically to explaining the Siri AI delay, published a blog post bluntly titled "Due to DMA, Siri AI delayed in EU for iOS 27 and iPadOS 27," and briefed media on the issue directly. Notably, when Apple mentioned that China would also be missing out on the feature, it did so in a single footnote — a stark contrast to the sustained messaging around Europe. The pattern suggests a deliberate effort to make Brussels, rather than Apple's own product decisions, the story.

Whether that strategy pays off in the court of public opinion remains to be seen. What's clear is that regulators didn't budge: the Commission rejected Apple's request for an 18-month runway, the same kind of accommodation Google effectively received by default through its later compliance deadline.

Not necessarily rivals on this fight

It's worth remembering that Google and Apple are aligned, not opposed, on the substance here. Both companies oppose the DMA's interoperability rules on similar grounds, framing them as risks to privacy, security, and product design. They're also commercial partners on AI, with Google's Gemini integrated into some of Apple's own AI features, including parts of Siri AI. That relationship makes it plausible the two companies have coordinated, at least informally, while pursuing different tactics against the same regulatory pressure.

But tactics matter, and right now the difference in outcomes is real. Google gets to keep Gemini running in Europe while it works through compliance over the next roughly two years. Apple has no such cushion, and Siri AI's European debut is, for now, indefinite. The episode is a reminder that in Brussels, how you time a launch relative to regulatory deadlines can matter as much as what you actually build.