The European Commission has launched a new antitrust investigation into Google. The regulator is investigating whether the company is distorting competition by using content from European media outlets and YouTube creators to train its AI services without fair compensation and the right to opt out of such use.
The European Commission has launched a new antitrust investigation into Google. The regulator is investigating whether the company is distorting competition by using content from European media outlets and YouTube creators to train its AI services without fair compensation and the right to opt out of such use.
According to Engadget, the investigation has two key strands. First, the EU is investigating whether AI Overview and AI Mode are shaping responses based on content from web publishers without «adequate compensation» and without a real opportunity to say «no» without risking Google search traffic.
The second set of questions concerns YouTube. The Commission suspects that Google may use videos and other content uploaded by creators to the platform to train its generative AI models without providing the creators with separate consent or an opt-out mechanism. At the same time, competing AI developers do not have access to this data set, which may create an uneven playing field for them.
The European Commission is explicitly talking about the risk of «unfair conditions» for publishers and content creators and the potential restriction of competition in the AI market. EC Vice-President Teresa Ribera emphasized that innovations in the field of artificial intelligence cannot develop at the expense of the basic principles of fairness and protection of creators' rights.
Google responded by saying that such a review «risks stifling innovation» in a market that the company says has already become significantly more competitive. The company says it will continue to work with media and creative industries as they transition to the «AI era,» but has not yet detailed the policy change.
The antitrust case is the latest in a long history of Google’s conflicts with European regulators. In addition to separate cases related to advertising and search, the company has already been hit by the EU’s Digital Markets Act, which tightens the rules for gatekeepers like Google, Apple, and Meta. If the European Commission finds that Google violated competition law, it could face fines of up to 10% of its global turnover and be required to change its approach to using content from publishers and creators in its AI products.
Previously, dev.ua wrote about how Alphabet/Google promised to change the way its advertising services work in the EU to remove antitrust complaints and at the same time not sell part of its adtech business. The company insists that it can resolve the conflict of interest with product changes, not a separation
business.
