EU opens investigation into Google's use of online content for AI models

"The investigation will notably examine whether Google is distorting competition by imposing unfair terms and conditions on publishers and content creators, or by granting itself privileged access to such content, thereby placing developers of rival AI models at a disadvantage, the commission said. It said it was concerned that Google may have used content from web publishers to generate AI-powered services on its search results pages without appropriate compensation to publishers and without offering them the possibility to refuse such use of their content."

"The commission said it was also concerned as to whether Google has used content uploaded to YouTube to train its own generative AI models without offering creators compensation or the possibility to refuse. Content creators uploading videos on YouTube have an obligation to grant Google permission to use their data for different purposes, including for training generative AI models, the commission said."

The European Commission opened an investigation into whether Google is breaching competition rules by using online content from web publishers and YouTube to develop its AI services. The probe will examine whether Google imposes unfair terms on publishers and content creators or grants itself privileged access to content, thereby disadvantaging rival AI developers. The Commission is concerned Google may have used publisher content to generate AI-powered search services without compensating publishers or allowing them to refuse such use. It will also examine whether Google used YouTube uploads to train generative AI models without offering creators compensation or the possibility to refuse.

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