BRUSSELS – The European Union announced on Tuesday that it has launched an investigation to assess whether Google violated antitrust laws by using content published online by media and other publishers to train and provide AI services without adequate compensation. The European Commission has announced that it will investigate concerns that US tech giants are distorting competition by imposing unfair contract terms on publishers and content creators, or by giving themselves privileged access to publishers and content creators. “Free and democratic societies depend on diverse media, open access to information and a vibrant creative environment,” said Teresa Rivera, the European Union's head of competition. “AI is bringing remarkable innovation and many benefits to people and businesses across Europe, but this progress cannot come at the expense of the principles that are at the heart of our societies.” The European Union's antitrust regulator, the Commission, said its investigation would focus on two issues. Google will investigate whether it used YouTube videos to train its generative AI models without adequately remunerating the creators who posted the clips online or offering them the possibility to opt out of such use of their content.
“Google does not pay content creators on YouTube for their content, nor do they allow content to be uploaded to YouTube without allowing Google to use such data,” the commission said. “At the same time, rival developers of AI models are prohibited by YouTube's policies from using YouTube content to train their own AI models.” The investigation will also look into whether the company used online content from other sites, such as newspaper websites, to provide AI-powered generation services, again without compensation or opt-out options. This specifically pertains to Google's AI-generated summaries that pop up in response to users' search queries, and the company's “AI mode,” a search tab similar to a chatbot that answers users' questions, the committee said. “We are investigating whether Google may have violated EU competition rules by imposing unfair contract terms on publishers and content creators, putting rival AI model developers at a disadvantage,” Rivera said. There is no deadline for the Commission to complete its investigation, and the commencement of an investigation does not prejudge its outcome. However, the company risks hefty fines.
