The probe will examine whether Google abused its dominant market position by imposing unfair terms on publishers and creators or giving itself privileged access to material used to train AI systems such as AI Overviews and AI Mode. The Commission believes the practices could disadvantage competing AI models.
Officials suspect Google may have relied on publisher content for AI services without proper compensation and without offering publishers a way to opt out. Regulators will assess how heavily Google’s AI outputs depend on such material.
A separate inquiry focuses on YouTube, where the Commission is investigating whether Google used creator-uploaded content to train its AI models without paying creators and without giving them the ability to block such use. Under YouTube’s rules, competing AI developers are barred from using YouTube content to train their own systems.
If the allegations are confirmed, the Commission could impose financial penalties. It emphasized that opening proceedings does not determine the outcome and said the case will be handled as a priority.
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Source: PAP