Because of AI content Trump's unpopular EU launches another investigation into US giant Google
If you ask Google a question, you also get answers from an artificial intelligence. The US internet giant uses third-party content for this - and is now being targeted by EU regulators.
09.12.2025, 10:31
13.12.2025, 07:08
dpa
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- The EU is investigating whether Google is unfairly exploiting its market power in the development of its AI.
- It is about feeding the AI with content from third-party providers - such as YouTube.
- YouTube users must make their content available free of charge to train the AI.
The EU suspects the US internet giant Google of illegally feeding its artificial intelligence with third-party online content. The European Commission is therefore launching an investigation into possible breaches of competition law, announced Commission Vice-President Teresa Ribera.
Specifically, the authority is also accusing the tech giant of using third-party content without appropriate compensation in order to offer results for search queries. It is investigating whether Google may have imposed unfair conditions on publishers and content creators and at the same time disadvantaged competing developers of AI models.
"A free and democratic society depends on diverse media, open access to information and a vibrant creative landscape," Ribera is quoted as saying.
Donald Trump, on the other hand, has just denied that the EU stands for freedom of expression and democracy. The US president could take the new proceedings against the US company personally.
YouTube users must approve content
According to Tibera, AI brings remarkable innovations and many benefits for people and companies across Europe, but this progress must not come at the expense of the principles at the heart of European societies.
People searching on Google now also see AI-generated results. This involves both summarized answers to search queries and Google's AI mode, which was launched just a few weeks ago. The latter answers users' queries in the conversational style of a chatbot.
There are also concerns about the handling of content on Google's YouTube video platform. Creators must give Google permission to use their videos for various purposes, including for training generative AI models.
Further proceedings are underway
However, they do not receive any remuneration for this. At the same time, YouTube prohibits Google's competitors from using platform content to train their own AI systems - a potential advantage for Google's own AI developments.
The EU Commission is investigating whether Google may have exploited a dominant market position through these practices. The initiation of proceedings does not yet constitute proof of an infringement, emphasized the Brussels authority.
It monitors compliance with competition law in the EU. It remains to be seen how long the proceedings will take. Other proceedings are also underway against Google for possible breaches of competition law, such as possible discrimination against media and publishers. Such proceedings carry the threat of high fines.
