European Commission to Investigate Google over Potential AI Violations

The European Commission announced that it has launched an antitrust investigation into Google due to suspected violations of the European Union’s competition rules. The investigation will see whether Google used web and YouTube content for artificial intelligence purposes and will determine whether the tech giant is distorting competition via unfair terms.

Google Might Have Abused Its Dominant Position

According to the European Commission, Google might have illegitimately used web publishers’ content to provide generative AI-powered services on its search results page without asking or compensating the original authors.

This potential violation refers to the AI Overviews and AI Mode section of Google, which provides AI-generated summaries in response to users’ search queries. The European Commission believes that Google might have appropriated web publishers’ content to feed its AI.

In addition to that, the European Commission believes that Google might have used YouTube content to feed its AI models without compensating content creators or allowing them to refuse to have their content used for such purposes.

For context, Google prohibits rival AI companies from using YouTube content to train their AI models. If Google trained its own AI on YouTube content, this could prove a violation of the EU competition rules, which prohibit the abuse of a dominant position.

Progress Cannot Come at the Expense of Europe’s Core Principles

The European Commission noted that Google and the competition authorities in EU member states have been informed of the investigation. It also clarified that the proceedings have no legal deadline and that the duration will depend on several factors, including the complexity of the case, the cooperation of concerned parties and the parties’ exercise of the rights of defense.

Teresa Ribera, the commission’s executive vice president for clean, just and competitive transition, commented on the matter, highlighting the importance of diverse media, open access to information, and a vibrant creative landscape to all Europeans. She acknowledged the remarkable innovation and benefits AI has brought, but said that they cannot come at the expense of Europe’s core principles.

This is why we are investigating whether Google may have imposed unfair terms and conditions on publishers and content creators, while placing rival AI models developers at a disadvantage, in breach of EU competition rules.

Teresa Ribera, EVP for clean, just, and competitive transition, European Commission

In other news, Google just updated its policy on gambling ads in 35 countries.