GOOGLE UNDER FIRE FROM THE EU. IT’S ALL ABOUT AI, DATA AND ILLEGAL CONTENT SCRAPING
The European Commission has launched antitrust proceedings against Google, which could set one of the most important precedents in the history of artificial intelligence regulation in Europe. At stake are no longer just ads or a search engine, but Big Tech’s right to use other people’s content to train AI models.
Google vs. artificial intelligence: what is Brussels investigating?
EU regulators are looking into whether Google illegally used online publishers’ content and YouTube material to:
- training generative AI models,
- creating AI Overviews services (automated responses over search results),
- Developing AI Mode – a chatbot version of the search engine.
Publishers and creators had no way to object or receive compensation, and Google simultaneously blocked AI competitors from accessing this data.
Why is this a landmark case?
AI Overviews is a silent transfer of value
AI Overviews use publishers’ content, but capture traffic that previously went to the source sites. What does this mean for publishers, stores and basically the entire Internet?
- fewer clicks,
- Publishers’ revenue decline,
- loss of control over their own content.
The EU is investigating whether Google used its dominant position in the search engine to power its own AI with someone else’s work – without permission or payment.
YouTube as a closed data mine
The second, potentially even more serious thread is YouTube. Google could train its own AI models on users’ videos, cutting off competing AI companies from the same data. If this is confirmed, we’re talking about systemic privileging of its own AI products at the expense of the market.
This is NOT a DMA issue. It’s the heavy artillery
The proceedings are not under the Digital Markets Act, but under classic EU antitrust rules. Sanctions could reach up to 10% of Alphabet’s global turnover, and the whole case could set a global precedent for AI training on other people’s content. The outcome will affect the entire ecosystem: OpenAI, Meta, Amazon, Anthropic.
Artificial intelligence vs. Google: politics in the background
The investigation has already sparked diplomatic tensions. Donald Trump’s administration accuses the EU of targeting U.S. Big Techs, but Brussels counters the accusations by emphasizing “national neutrality.” One thing is clear: AI has become a geopolitical playing field, and Europe is trying to impose rules before corporations do.
For publishers and e-commerce, this means:
- Possible new content licensing models,
- A real chance to be paid for the use of content by AI,
- Changing the rules of the game in SEO and visibility on Google.
For AI:
- The end of “wild scraping” of the Internet,
- More pressure on transparency of data sources,
- Higher costs of training models.
For Google:
- The risk of billions of dollars in fines,
- Potentially forcing changes in AI Overviews,
- Loss of competitive advantage against OpenAI and other players.
This is not another “regulatory storm in a teacup.” It’s a fundamental question about who really pays for the development of artificial intelligence – and whether innovation can come at the expense of creators. If the EU gets its way, the era of free internet as fuel for AI may be coming to an end.
