London — Google faces new antitrust scrutiny from European Union regulators on Tuesday, which launched an investigation into its artificial intelligence models and use of online content for its services.
A flurry of regulatory changes by Brussels targeting Big Tech risks antagonizing President Donald Trump's administration, but EU officials denied naming U.S. companies.
The European Commission, the 27-nation European Union's top antitrust enforcement agency, said it was investigating whether Google violated competition rules through its use of web publisher content and content uploaded to YouTube for AI purposes.
Regulators are concerned that Google is giving it an unfair advantage by using content in its two search services, AI Overview and AI Mode, without requiring publishers and content creators to pay or opt out. AI Overview is an auto-generated summary that appears at the top of traditional search results, but AI mode provides chatbot-style answers to your search queries.
It is also investigating whether Google uses videos uploaded to YouTube under similar conditions to train its own generative AI models, while locking out competing AI model developers.
Officials said they were looking into whether Google had gained an advantage over its AI rivals by imposing unfair contract terms or giving itself privileged access to content.
“These complaints risk stifling innovation in an ever more competitive market,” Google said in a statement. “Europeans deserve to benefit from the latest technology and we will continue to work closely with the news and creative industries as they move into the AI era.”
The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, is conducting the investigation based on the EU's long-standing competition regulations, rather than new digital markets laws designed to prevent Big Tech companies from dominating online markets.
“AI is bringing remarkable innovation and many benefits to people and businesses across Europe, but this progress will not come at the expense of the principles that are at the heart of our societies,” Teresa Rivera, the commission's vice-president for competition issues, said in a statement.
Last week, the European Commission launched an antitrust investigation into WhatsApp's AI policies. Trump administration officials also complained that U.S. companies were being targeted after it fined Elon Musk's social media platform X 120 million euros ($140 million) for violating digital regulations.
Spokesperson Ariana Podesta said the European Commission was “agnostic” about the nationality of the companies it investigated.
“Of course, the sole focus of our antitrust investigation is the potential illegal activity and the damage it may cause to competition and consumers within the European Union,” he told reporters at a regular briefing in Brussels.
He said Google had an opportunity to respond to concerns and the European Commission had notified U.S. authorities about the investigation.
There is no deadline for Brussels to conclude the case, which could result in sanctions including fines of up to 10% of the company's global annual revenue.
