EU Antitrust Probe Targets Google’s Use of Online Content for AI

Google was on Tuesday hit with an EU antitrust investigation over its use of online content for artificial‑intelligence (AI) training, marking the latest in a series of regulatory actions by the bloc against U.S. tech giants.

The European Commission said it is probing whether Google has breached competition rules by leveraging the copyrighted material of web publishers and the vast trove of videos uploaded to YouTube to fuel its AI products.

The inquiry will focus on three core concerns:

• Whether Google imposes unfair terms on publishers and content creators that limit their ability to negotiate compensation for the use of their work.
• Whether the company grants itself privileged access to that content, creating an unfair advantage for its own AI models.
• Whether rivals building competing AI systems are disadvantaged because they lack comparable data sources.

“AI is delivering remarkable innovation and benefits for people and businesses across Europe, but that progress cannot come at the expense of the principles at the heart of our societies,” said Teresa Ribera, the EU’s competition commissioner. “We are therefore investigating whether Google has imposed unfair terms on publishers and content creators while placing rival AI developers at a disadvantage, in breach of EU competition rules.”

The Commission also wants to determine to what extent Google’s “AI Overviews” and “AI Mode” features rely on publishers’ content without appropriate remuneration or an opt‑out mechanism that would not jeopardize a publisher’s visibility in Google Search.

From a business perspective, the outcome of this probe could reshape how AI training data is sourced and compensated across the digital economy. If the EU concludes that Google’s practices are anti‑competitive, it could trigger mandatory licensing frameworks, similar to those already discussed for news content under the EU’s Digital Services Act. Such a regime would force tech firms to negotiate data‑use agreements, potentially increasing costs for AI development but also creating new revenue streams for content creators.

“This complaint risks stifling innovation in a market that is more competitive than ever,” a Google spokesperson told CNBC. “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.”

In September, the EU fined Google nearly €3 billion ($3.4 billion) for antitrust violations in the advertising‑technology sector. At the time, Google’s global head of regulatory affairs, Lee‑Anne Mulholland, called the decision “wrong” and announced an appeal, arguing that there are “more alternatives to our services than ever before.”

The investigation comes amid a wave of enforcement actions targeting American tech firms. Earlier this week, the European Commission fined Elon Musk’s platform X €120 million ($140 million) for breaching transparency obligations related to its advertising repository and for allegedly employing deceptive design practices around its verification badge.

Musk responded by calling for the dissolution of the EU, a stance that drew criticism from several Republican lawmakers in the United States.

Last month, the Commission opened an antitrust probe into Meta over a new policy that would allow AI providers direct access to WhatsApp data. Regulators are evaluating whether that arrangement could give Meta an unfair edge in the burgeoning AI‑assisted communications market.

Collectively, these cases signal a more aggressive stance by European regulators, who are increasingly scrutinizing the data practices and market power of Big Tech. For investors, the trend underscores the importance of assessing regulatory risk when evaluating tech stocks with significant exposure to the European market.