Google faces a fresh antitrust investigation in Brussels over whether it ripped off copyrighted material to train its artificial intelligence models without properly compensating publishers, the European Commission announced Tuesday.
The European Union’s antitrust cops expressed concern that Google used web publishers’ articles and videos to build its “AI Overviews” search summary feature and “AI Mode” search function without paying them or allowing them to opt out.
The investigation is centered on Google’s handling of articles from news publishers and content creators, as well as videos uploaded to YouTube.
“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,” EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera said in a statement.
The investigation could further raise tensions between the EU and the Trump administration, which has been critical of the 27-member bloc’s ongoing campaign of fines and penalties against US tech companies.
A Google spokesperson said the EU’s inquiry “risks stifling 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 to the AI era,” the spokesperson added.
In September, the EU slapped Google with a $3.4 billion fine after determining it broke competition rules related to advertising technology. President Trump blasted that action as “discriminatory.”
Earlier this week, Trump warned Europe to be “very careful” after it imposed a $140 million fine on Elon Musk’s social media platform X for alleged violations of the EU’s content moderation policies.
At the same time, Google and other tech firms remain under intense scrutiny within the US over their AI training practices.
As The Post reported, a group of top conservatives including ex-Trump adviser Steve Bannon recently demanded that the administration reject Big Tech’s argument that its use of copyrighted material is protected by so-called “fair use doctrine.”
Meanwhile, Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, which is locked in a fierce AI competition with Google, recently announced a new set of licensing deals with top publishers, including CNN and Fox News.
Fox News shares a common owner with News Corp, which publishes The Post.
