EU opens antitrust investigation into Google's AI practices

EU opens antitrust investigation into Google's AI practices The European Commission is looking into Google's lack of compensation for publishers and YouTube creators. Google is no stranger to scrutiny from government bodies such as the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), and the European Commission . Now it can add another probe to its list: The European Commission has opened an antitrust investigation into the company surrounding the content used for its AI tools. Namely, the Commission is looking into two things, starting with whether Google used web publisher's content for its AI Overview and AI Mode services -- without appropriate compensation or the option to refuse the use of their materials. The Commission will investigate to what extent the generation of AI Overviews and AI Mode by Google is based on web publishers' content without appropriate compensation for that, and without the possibility for publishers to refuse without losing access to Google Search, the EU executive body stated in its announcement.