Apple Defends Google Against the EU: Unusual Alliance Against AI Imposed on Android

It is not common to see Cupertino stepping in to protect Mountain View's interests, but the dynamics of the Digital Markets Act are reshuffling the priorities of big tech. Apple has officially submitted its observations to the European Commission, strongly criticizing the corrective measures that would require Google to open sensitive parts of Android to competing artificial intelligence systems. Apple’s argument is clear: granting external AI services granular access to system applications (to autonomously manage email sending, food ordering, or image sharing) would create critical vulnerabilities in data protection.

The intervention comes amidst a heated confrontation between European regulators and Google. Last month, the EU proposed a series of measures to force Android interoperability, allowing third-party AI assistants to deeply integrate with the installed ecosystem. While for the Antitrust Commissioner Teresa Ribera this is a necessary move to ensure "greater choice for Android users," for Apple and Google, it is an unjustified intervention that undermines security protocols developed over more than a decade. As reported by Reuters, Apple emphasized that the risks are particularly acute in a sector like AI, where capabilities and threat vectors are in constant and unpredictable evolution.

Apple defends Google against the forced integration of third-party AIs into Android. The most critical point of the document submitted by Apple concerns the European Commission's methodology. The Cupertino giant argues that Brussels is trying to redesign Android's architecture based on just three months of work, demanding to replace technical decisions made by Google engineers over years of development with urgent bureaucratic directives. According to Apple, such a forced approach would not only compromise the stability of the operating system but would also raise questions about the integrity of the devices themselves, making the behavior of AI systems difficult to monitor and contain.

Google has already termed the EU's measures as interference that undermines the fundamental protections of European users. The convergence of views between the two rival companies highlights how high the stakes are, as it involves maintaining full control over APIs and permissions for access to personal data. Apple's comments, submitted by the May 13 deadline, will now be evaluated alongside those from other stakeholders. The European Commission is expected to make a final decision in July regarding Google's compliance with the DMA's mandates. If the EU confirms its hardline stance, Android could undergo a radical transformation in its permission logics, potentially opening a breach that Apple fears could, in the future, set a dangerous precedent for the closed ecosystem of iOS.