December 24, 2025
Tokyo – Officials have revealed that the Japan Fair Trade Commission plans to conduct a fact-finding investigation into search engines that utilize generative AI.
The committee believes that some actions by major tech companies, such as the unauthorized use of news articles from news organizations by AI, may amount to violations of antitrust laws, such as abuse of a dominant bargaining position.
The study covers providers of AI-powered search engines, including US-based Google LLC, Microsoft Corp., startup Perplexity AI Inc., and Japan's LY Corp. Other companies, such as U.S.-based OpenAI, which provides the AI chatbot service ChatGPT, may also be targeted.
AI-powered search engines can understand and respond to questions asked in a conversational tone. AI generates summarized answers from data collected through the internet. This technology is considered more useful than traditional search engines because it provides more direct answers.
However, it has become a problem that technology companies are using articles from news organizations and other sources in their responses without permission. News agencies earn money by displaying ads on their sites, so the proliferation of AI-generated news summaries could lead to a decline in revenue.
In 2023, the Fair Trade Commission released a fact-finding report on media outlets. The committee said that if major tech companies use articles for free or for significantly reduced fees, this could constitute an abuse of a dominant position and could violate antitrust laws.
Search engines that utilize AI are also under intense scrutiny in Europe. The European Commission, the European Union's enforcement agency, has launched an investigation into Google for possible violations of EU competition law.
