EU launches probe into Google over alleged AI content misuse
The European Union has opened an investigation to assess whether Google is violating European competition rules in its use of online content from publishers and creators on YouTube for artificial intelligence purposes.
The European Commission announced that it will examine whether the American tech company, which develops the Gemini AI model and is owned by Alphabet, is placing competing AI systems at a disadvantage, CE Report quotes FENA.
“The investigation will specifically examine whether Google is distorting competition by imposing unfair conditions on publishers and content creators, or by giving itself privileged access to such content, thereby disadvantaging competing AI models,” the Commission stated.
It added that there is concern that Google used web publishers’ content to generate AI services on its search results pages without appropriate compensation and without giving publishers the option to decline such use.
The Commission also expressed concern that Google used content uploaded to YouTube to train its generative AI models without compensating creators and without giving them the option to refuse such use.
“Content creators who upload videos to YouTube are required to give Google permission to use their data for various purposes, including training generative AI models,” the Commission noted.
Google does not pay YouTube content creators for this use of their work, nor does it allow them to upload material without granting the company rights to use the data.
The Commission emphasized that competing AI developers are prohibited under YouTube’s rules from using platform content to train their own models.
YouTube, owned by Google, argues that its terms of service allow the company to use creator content to develop AI models.
“We use content uploaded to YouTube to improve the experience for creators and viewers across YouTube and Google, including through machine learning and AI applications,” YouTube stated in September.
EU Competition Commissioner Teresa Ribera said that AI brings remarkable innovation and many benefits to people and businesses across Europe.
“This complaint threatens to stifle innovation in a market that is more competitive than ever. Europeans deserve to benefit from the latest technologies, and we will continue to work closely with the news and creative industries as they transition into the AI era,” a Google spokesperson said.
Foto/ Ilustracija
