Funnily enough, I think it is in Google's best interest to comply and do the best work they can. Besides security that they might want to guarantee up to a limit, that would boost Android usage, also including their own hardware.

The future lies in a large, local-friendly ecosystem and the hardware to support it.

Gate keeping software makes even less sense nowadays.

The competition is on compute offering. Cheaper, faster, at scale. They can have a competitive advantage over incumbents if they stay smart.