Google could be distorting competition by imposing unfair terms and conditions, Europe's competition watchdog has said. (Christian Charisius / picture alliance via Getty Images)
The commission, which enforces antitrust rules for the European Union, said the U.S.-based company could be distorting competition by imposing unfair terms and conditions on publishers and content creators by mandating privileged access to content.
Teresa Ribera, the EU's commissioner for competition, said that the benefits of AI "cannot come at the expense of the principles at the heart of our societies.
"This is why we are investigating whether Google may have imposed unfair terms and conditions on publishers and content creators, while placing rival AI models developers at a disadvantage, in breach of EU competition rules," Ribera said.
The investigation will focus on concerns that Google scraped content from websites to feed its generative AI-powered search service, called AI Overviews, without compensating publishers or allowing them to opt out. Google provides an AI overview of users' search queries, and has an AI mode tab similar to chatbots on other platforms.
The commission said its investigation will aim to establish whether Google denied publishers access to its search services if they refused to provide access to their content.
Investigators are also looking into concerns that videos and other content uploaded to YouTube, which is owned by Google, is being used to train AI models without compensation or the right to refuse.
Creators have an obligation to grant Google permission to use their data, including for AI training, and the company does not remunerate them for doing so, the commission said. At the same time, rival developers are barred from using YouTube videos to train their own models.
The investigation is the second launched in as many months by Europe's antitrust watchdog amid mounting tensions between Brussels and Washington over enforcement against big tech companies.
The commission opened a probe in November into Google's spam policy following complaints from news outlets and publishers that it was denting their revenue.
Google has called the investigation "misguided," arguing that it is complying with recently enacted rules for digital markets designed to keep spam from infiltrating search results.
A spokesperson for Google said Tuesday that the complaint "risks stifling innovation in a market that is more competitive than ever." Google said its users "deserve to benefit from the latest technologies" and that it would work with the media and content creators "as they transition to the AI era."
EU enforcers launched an investigation on Dec. 4 into recent changes made by Meta to its WhatsApp policies, citing concerns that they prevent artificial intelligence providers from communicating with their users on the messaging platform.
--Editing by Ed Harris.
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