BRUSSELS — The European Commission has initiated an antitrust investigation to determine whether Google has violated EU competition regulations by utilizing web publishers’ content and YouTube videos for artificial intelligence applications.
Examining competition distortion
The inquiry aims to assess whether Google is undermining competition by imposing unfair terms on publishers and content creators, while potentially granting itself preferential access to their materials. This could disadvantage rival AI models, the Commission noted in a statement on Tuesday.
The European Union’s executive body expressed concerns that Google might be leveraging content from web publishers to enhance its generative AI-enabled services in search results without adequately compensating these publishers or allowing them the option to opt out of such usage.
Impact on content creators and news traffic
Moreover, the Commission highlighted that Google could be utilizing videos and other materials uploaded to YouTube to train its generative AI systems without providing compensation to the creators or allowing them the option to refuse this use of their content.
This formal antitrust investigation comes on the heels of Google’s launch of AI-assisted search results, which has reportedly led to a decrease in traffic for online news platforms. In September, Google faced a significant penalty of nearly €3 billion for abusing its dominance in the online advertising sector. While the company has proposed technical solutions in response to this fine, it has resisted calls from EU competition chief Teresa Ribera to consider divesting parts of its operations.