Google’s AI practices are officially under investigation by the EU

Google is receiving a visit from the European Commission to investigate precisely what is going on with AI Overviews and AI Mode, among other things: are publishers whose content is used for the answers paid for this? And doesn’t Google force too much on people who post a video on YouTube? These are matters that the European Commission wants more clarity about, and is therefore launching a formal investigation into Google. The European Commission has as one of its goals to ensure that citizens can count on fair competition and transparency on the internet. This research is part of that. It believes Google uses publishers’ and bloggers’ online content to train AI models without compensating them. They might also not have the option to exclude their content from AI Overviews and AI Mode without affecting how well they can be found via Google Search.

Google’s AI and YouTube

In addition, it is also investigating YouTube: as soon as you upload a video, you agree that your data can be used in all kinds of ways, and there is no option to circumvent this. The EU describes the two focuses of its investigation as follows:

• Investigate whether Google serves web publishers’ content through generative AI-powered services, such as AI summaries and AI mode, on its search results pages without appropriate compensation to publishers and without offering them the opportunity to opt out of such uses of their content. To what extent are the responses of these tools based on the content of web publishers without receiving appropriate compensation and being able to reject it without losing access to Google’s search engine?

• Investigate whether Google uses videos and other content uploaded to YouTube to train its generative AI models, without appropriate compensation to creators and without providing them with the opportunity to opt out of such use of their content.

The outcome of the investigation could result in a mega fine for Google. However, in response to the investigation, Google said: “This complaint threatens to stifle innovation in a market that is more competitive than ever. Europeans deserve to benefit from the latest technologies, and we will continue to work closely with the news and creative industries as they transition to the AI ​​era.”

Europe vs Google

The EU says: “A free and democratic society depends on diverse media, open access to information and a vibrant creative landscape. These values are central to who we are as Europeans. AI brings remarkable innovation and many benefits to people and businesses across Europe, but this progress should not come at the expense of the principles that underpin our societies. That is why we are investigating whether Google may have imposed unfair conditions on publishers and content creators, while placing competing developers of AI models at a disadvantage, in violation of the EU competition rules.