Google Buys Play Store Code From Developers to Train AI Tools, Offering 100% IP Retention
Updated
Updated · Android Authority · Jun 3
Google Buys Play Store Code From Developers to Train AI Tools, Offering 100% IP Retention
3 articles · Updated · Android Authority · Jun 3
Summary
Select Play Store developers are reportedly being paid under a confidential pilot to license Android app source code to Google while keeping full ownership and intellectual property rights.
One email reviewed by 404 Media says the code will help improve Google’s developer tools and products, pointing to training or fine-tuning AI coding models.
Google appears to be seeking higher-quality, real-world code because freely scraped internet data has not kept Gemini’s coding capabilities competitive with GitHub Copilot and Anthropic’s Claude Code.
The non-exclusive licensing terms let developers monetize the same code elsewhere, as Google pitches the program as a mission-driven effort with immediate implications for Gemini 3.5 and Antigravity 2.0.