UK competition watchdog wants to give Android and Chrome users more search engine choices

It would also require smartphone makers to give users a choice of AI assistants.

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The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is trying to introduce more search choices where Google has the tightest control: Android smartphones and the Chrome browser. The regulator has proposed allowing users to choose their preferred search provider on those platforms so Google's own search engine isn't used automatically. The CMA also wants to change rules around AI assistants and require search providers to give clearer attribution to publisher content when used. The new proposal follows measures recommended at the beginning of 2026. 

The CMA's latest proposal has three primary recommendations. The first is to force Google and Android smartphone makers to give buyers a choice of search platforms when they use their phone or open Chrome for the first time. That would be followed by a yearly prompt. The second is to allow a choice of AI assistants, provided they meet certain technical and security requirements. Finally, the CMA wants all search providers to attribute publisher content when displaying search results, so people can easily see and access those sources. 

Users in the UK already get to choose their search provider on both Android and Chrome, so the new proposal may just be about codifying that. However, yearly reminders to choose a search engine on those platforms would be new. 

"The way people search for information online is changing, with new services creating fresh opportunities for innovation and competition," said CMA's chief executive Sarah Cardell. "We've listened carefully to feedback and are responding quickly to the rise of AI assistants, which people are increasingly using as their search service, but aren't included on Google's choice screens. This is about future-proofing the options available to people in the UK so they can choose the search service they want as these come to market."

The new proposals follow the imposition of a new rule that allows publishers to opt out of AI results, imposed on June 3rd. The CMA also introduced fair Google search ranking and data portability requirements on June 17th. 

Many territories, including Europe, already mandate that smartphone makers give buyers a choice of search engine and browser when they first use it. For AI assistants, Google's Gemini is still tightly integrated into Google Search, so there's no way to change it yet. Apple, meanwhile, has reportedly introduced private hooks into macOS 27 and iOS 27 that will let apps replace Siri AI's server with third-party models like Claude, possibly in anticipation of new rules around AI assistants.