Abstract:
Google appealed two EU orders under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). These two requirements respectively involve opening some service capabilities to AI competitors and providing search data to other search engines. Google believes that if the relevant measures are implemented as planned, they will weaken user privacy protection and Android device security.
Google filed an appeal with the European Union's General Court in Luxembourg on Monday. The relevant measures were originally planned to take effect next year. The lawsuit further intensifies the dispute between Google and EU regulators over the scope of the DMA.
The two commands are respectively for AI services and search data
European Union antitrust regulators asked Google in July this year to take measures to make it easier for competitors to use its platform capabilities.
One of the requirements involves the field of AI. The EU requires Google to help other search service providers and AI developers use some of the service capabilities that are currently open to Gemini, which means that competitors such as OpenAI may theoretically obtain broader access conditions.
The other is aimed at the search market, requiring Google to open some search data to competing search engines to reduce the disadvantages of other search service providers in data acquisition.
Both measures are part of the EU's push through DMA to promote large technology platforms to open up core services and lower competition barriers.
Google says search data sharing may harm user privacy
The main objection to Google’s request for open search data is user privacy.
Oliver Bethell, senior director of competition at Google, said that people will query a large number of highly personal questions through search engines, including content such as health and intimacy. If companies are required to share this type of search history without adequate anonymization measures, it could cause irreversible damage to user privacy.
Therefore, Google believes that when regulators promote competition in the search market, they cannot do so at the expense of weakening existing privacy protections.
Android openness requirements also cause security concerns
Google's concerns about another order focus more on device security.
The company stated that if it further opens Android-related capabilities to competitors in order to meet DMA requirements, it may weaken the existing security protection mechanism.
Google’s core point is that the EU hopes to lower market entry barriers through open platform capabilities, but if the degree of openness is too high, it may also weaken Google’s current control mechanisms to protect user data and device security.
The EU said relevant measures include privacy and security guarantees
The European Commission takes a different stance on this.
As the law enforcement agency of the DMA, the European Commission stated that both measures already include protection arrangements for user privacy, device integrity and security, and therefore does not agree with Google’s claim that relevant requirements will inevitably weaken security protection.
This also forms the core of the dispute between the two parties: the EU hopes to reduce the competitive advantage of large platforms by forcing the opening of some data and service capabilities; Google believes that if the opening obligation goes deep into the search data and Android security levels, it may exceed reasonable regulatory boundaries.
The focus of controversy turns to how open the platform can be required by DMA
The significance of Google's appeal is not just the two specific measures themselves.
As competition in generative AI intensifies, search data, model access capabilities, and mobile operating systems are becoming new competitive infrastructure. The EU is trying to require large platforms to open some of their capabilities to competitors through the DMA, while Google hopes to limit the boundaries of this open obligation through judicial proceedings.
Therefore, the core issue to be resolved in this lawsuit is how much data and platform capabilities the DMA can require large technology companies to open when promoting competition, and how regulatory requirements should be balanced with privacy and security protections.
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