Google’s latest I/O announcements bring another reminder that European users are increasingly missing out on the latest innovations. Several of Google’s newest AI-powered products and features are launching in the U.S. first, or are explicitly U.S.-only at launch, including Gemini Spark, Daily Brief in the Gemini app, AI Inbox in Gmail, Universal Cart, Ask YouTube, and new agentic Search tools that can call businesses or build persistent custom mini-apps. These are precisely the kind of integrated, cross-product AI experiences that consumers elsewhere will be able to try first while Europeans are left waiting.
The delay is not happening in a vacuum. Google has warned that regulatory burdens and uncertainty under the DMA are delaying the launch of new AI features in Europe “by up to a year,” and the DMA’s interoperability obligations add particular complexity for deeply integrated services. Article 6(7), for example, requires gatekeepers to give third parties access to proprietary and embedded operating system, hardware, and software features, free of charge. That means new AI assistants and agents built to work across Search, Gmail, Calendar, Android, Chrome, YouTube, Wallet, and other services must be assessed not only as consumer innovations, but as potential interoperability obligations. The added complexity and potential security risks mean that European users risk receiving a slower, thinner version of the digital future.
