EU launches antitrust investigation into Google over AI content use
Kyiv • UNN
The European Union has launched an investigation into Google, suspecting abuse of its dominant position through the use of content for AI tools. The Commission will check whether Google distorts competition by imposing unfair terms on publishers and content creators.
The European Union has launched an investigation into Google to determine whether the company has abused its dominant position by using its own artificial intelligence tools to oust competitors. This is stated on the website of the European Commission, writes UNN.
Details
The investigation, in particular, will check whether Google distorts competition by imposing unfair terms on publishers and content creators, or by giving itself privileged access to such content, which puts developers of competing AI models at a disadvantage.
Google, headquartered in the US, is a multinational technology company specializing in internet services and products, including online advertising technologies, search, cloud computing, software, hardware, and AI.
The Commission is concerned that Google may have used:
- Web publication content to provide generative AI services ("AI Overviews" and "AI Mode") on search results pages without adequate compensation to publishers and without giving them the option to opt out of such use of their content. AI Overviews shows AI-generated summaries in response to a user's search query above organic results, while AI Mode is a chatbot-like search tab that answers user queries in a conversational style. The Commission will investigate the extent to which Google's creation of AI Overviews and AI Mode is based on web publication content without adequate compensation and without the ability for publishers to opt out of the use of their content without losing access to Google Search. Many publishers depend on Google Search for user traffic and do not want to risk losing it.
- Videos and other content uploaded to YouTube to train Google's generative AI models without adequate compensation to creators and without the ability to opt out of such use of their content. Content creators who upload videos to YouTube are required to grant Google permission to use their data for various purposes, including training generative AI models. Google does not pay creators for their content and does not allow content to be uploaded to YouTube without granting Google the right to use it. At the same time, competing AI developers cannot use YouTube content to train their own models due to the platform's policy.
If these practices are proven, they may violate EU competition rules prohibiting abuse of a dominant position (Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)) and Article 54 of the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA).
The Commission will now conduct a comprehensive investigation on a priority basis. The opening of a formal investigation does not prejudge its outcome.