EU opens probe into Google’s use of online content for AI models

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favorite tales on this weekly publication.Brussels has launched an investigation into whether or not Google is breaking competitors regulation in the way it makes use of materials from publishers and content material creators to coach its synthetic intelligence fashions.Within the EU’s newest problem to massive tech corporations, regulators on Tuesday mentioned the probe would study whether or not Google was imposing unfair phrases on on-line publishers and content material creators who add movies on its YouTube platform.As a part of the investigation, the European Fee will even have a look at whether or not Google’s enterprise practices are placing rival builders of AI fashions at a drawback. Regulators are set to hold out the investigation “as a matter of precedence” as officers acknowledge the pace of the quickly altering market.Google mentioned: “This grievance dangers stifling innovation in a market that’s extra aggressive than ever. Europeans deserve to learn from the most recent applied sciences and we are going to proceed to work carefully with the information and inventive industries as they transition to the AI period.”The EU’s competitors chief, Teresa Ribera, mentioned: “AI is bringing exceptional innovation and plenty of advantages for individuals and companies throughout Europe, however this progress can’t come on the expense of the rules on the coronary heart of our societies.” At a convention in Brussels, Ribera added that the case was “as soon as once more a robust sign of our dedication to defending the web press and different content material creators, and to making sure honest competitors in rising AI markets”.Final week, Brussels launched an antitrust investigation into Meta over its new coverage on AI suppliers’ entry to WhatsApp.The brand new probe is the most recent signal that the fee, the EU’s high antitrust enforcer, will proceed imposing its digital rule guide regardless of anger from US tech corporations and the Trump administration.It follows a sequence of bulletins beneath the EU’s digital rule guide in latest days, together with a €120mn effective on Elon Musk’s X for breaking the bloc’s digital transparency guidelines. The penalty on X drew heavy criticism from US authorities officers, together with US secretary of state Marco Rubio who mentioned the effective was “an assault on all American tech platforms and the American individuals by international governments”.Final month, the EU additionally launched an investigation into Google’s rating of reports retailers in search outcomes. That probe was beneath the Digital Markets Act, landmark laws designed to sort out the dominance of the most important on-line platforms.