Dive Brief:
- The European Commission launched an investigation Monday into whether Google’s use of online content for AI purposes breached the European Union’s competition rules, according to a press release.
- The investigation will probe whether Google imposed unfair terms and conditions on publishers and content creators, granting itself privileged access to content for AI Overviews and AI Mode on its search results page, resulting in an unfair advantage over rival AI model providers.
- “AI is bringing remarkable innovation and many benefits for people and businesses across Europe, but this progress cannot come at the expense of the principles at the heart of our societies,” Teresa Ribera, the European Commission’s EVP for clean, just and competitive transition, said in the press release.
Dive Insight:
The newly launched investigation is the latest step toward closer regulatory scrutiny of AI purveyors in the European region.
EU regulators' concern about Google is twofold. The complaint focuses on appropriate compensation for creators whose work is used by Google’s AI tools and fair competition and data access among AI model providers.
Google introduced AI Overviews – AI-generated summaries of search results – last year in a move that online publishers claim led to declining web traffic.
Nearly 60% of Google Search users who searched for answers to a specific question in March 2025 were shown AI-generated summaries, according to a Pew Research Center survey. Of the users who encountered a summary, only 8% clicked on a traditional search result link. Nearly twice as many users – 15% – who did not encounter a summary clicked on a search result link.
The EU’s investigation will also assess Google’s use of video content uploaded to YouTube, which Google owns, to train its generative AI models. Rival AI model developers are barred from using YouTube content to train their models due to restrictive YouTube policies, according to the commission.
Google lost a major U.S. antitrust case last year regarding its dominance in online search. The company avoided a breakup, but it has still been ordered to engage in data sharing and restrict exclusive deals.
Meanwhile, the EU AI Act includes specific requirements for IP protection and copyright in the context of general-purpose AI models and systems, said Forrester Principal Analyst Enza Iannopollo. Though the EU has planned to step back enforcement timelines for laws including the EU AI Act, investigations like this could prompt different actions, Iannopollo said.
“Surely, this investigation will reinvigorate the conversation about these issues, possibly creating more urgency for updated rules and stricter enforcement,” Iannopollo said in an email to CIO Dive.
AI Overviews is one of many examples of how Google has used machine learning and AI to innovate in online search as AI transforms the way users find information, a Google spokesperson said.
The EU’s complaint threatens to stifle innovation “in a market that is more competitive than ever,” according to the spokesperson.
“Europeans deserve to benefit from the latest technologies and we will continue to work closely with the news and creative industries as they transition to the AI era,” the Google spokesperson said.
Still, the EU isn’t the only one concerned about Google Search and its AI-generated summaries. In the U.S., Penske Media Corporation – owner of music publication Rolling Stone – sued Google in September over its AI summaries that the corporation claims damages its business.
It’s one of many ongoing lawsuits challenging AI model providers’ use of online content. The New York Times last week sued Perplexity, an AI-powered engine similar to ChatGPT, over copyright infringement.
