The UK CMA proposes rules requiring Google and Android OEMs to offer search choice screens on first use and via yearly prompts, new AI assistant rules, and more
It would also require smartphone makers to give users a choice of AI assistants. — The UK's Competition and Markets Authority …
Context & Ripple Effects
The CMA’s consultation follows OpenAI’s March request to include search-capable AI chatbots in UK choice screens, expanding the competition question from default search engines to the interfaces through which users seek answers. The EU’s July orders on comparable Android access for rival search engines and AI assistants provide a parallel regulatory benchmark.
The UK regulator had already targeted Google’s AI-search position by permitting publishers to opt out of AI Overviews. The new proposals move the focus to consumer device setup and recurring default selection, where Google and Android manufacturers control distribution.
First-order effects
- Google and Android OEMs would need to build search-selection flows into first use and yearly prompts if the CMA adopts the proposals, weakening the permanence of a default chosen at setup.
- Eligible alternative search and AI-assistant providers would gain a defined route to reach Android users, while smartphone makers would need to offer assistant choice rather than a single preselected option.
Second-order effects
- Google would face a recurring retention contest with rival search and assistant services, making onboarding design, eligibility criteria, and the presentation of alternatives central competitive issues.
- Android OEMs would have to coordinate device configuration with multiple search and assistant providers, extending UK compliance work beyond Google’s own services.
Third-order effects
- If adopted, the proposals would recast default-selection screens as ongoing distribution regulation rather than a one-time remedy, making access to mobile entry points more contestable for AI services as well as search engines.
- The CMA’s approach points toward a converging regulatory treatment of search and AI assistants as competing gateways to information, alongside its earlier publisher controls over AI search.
The trend: Competition regulators are extending platform-access remedies from search defaults to AI-assistant distribution on the devices where users establish habits.