The European Commission’s latest probe zeroes in on Google's voice assistant – is consumer IoT the next big antitrust battleground?

Earlier this month, news reports revealed the European Commission’s latest antitrust probe into Google. The EC is concerned that Google may be abusing its Android operating system (OS) as a lever to grant its own voice assistant technology preferential treatment over that of rival services. 

As part of its investigation, the EC is asking manufacturers of smart devices whether they are being forced to pre-install Google Assistant as their default voice assistant technology in return for a license to its Android OS, which is vital for the operation of many smart devices.

Familiar concerns

These leveraging concerns will sound familiar to Google: concerns around the exclusive use or at least pre-installation of Google’s search engine app by smartphone manufacturers formed the basis for the €4.34bn fine imposed on Google by the EC back in 2018.

Concerns over gatekeepers in IoT

While only an informal probe at this stage, its timing is interesting as it follows only three months after the EC published the interim results of its ongoing consumer Internet of Things (IoT) Sector Inquiry. In its Preliminary Report, the EC already signaled similar concerns it had received from smart device manufacturers who highlighted the ‘gatekeeper’ role of prominent voice assistant technologies such as Google Assistant, Amazon’s Alexa or Apple’s Siri for the integration and interoperability of various smart devices and services within a consumer IoT ecosystem (see also our LinkingCompetition blog post on this topic). 

The EC’s specific probe into Google’s voice assistant technology will now test whether conduct such as Google’s alleged ‘default voice assistant requirement’ is indeed designed to ‘tip’ the fast-growing IoT space in its favour, through the increased overall control via its voice assistant.

What's happening next?

The EC has declined to comment on the news, so it is currently unclear when it intends to open a formal investigation into Google Assistant. Another open question is whether it has other specific antitrust enforcement cases in the (consumer) IoT sphere on its radar. In any event, with the publication of the final results of its consumer IoT Sector Inquiry expected for the first half of 2022, we expect this topic to stay on top of the antitrust agenda in the months to come.