The European Commission has launched an investigation into Google for allegedly appropriating third-party content for its AI services.
The European Commission has accused Google of two major violations. According to regulators, the company has been using content from external websites to generate AI-driven answers in its search engine (AI Overviews and AI Mode) without providing any compensation to the original copyright holders.
Because users receive immediate answers directly within Google’s interface, traffic to the websites from which the information was sourced is reportedly declining, causing financial losses for publishers and content creators. At the same time, rights holders have no real ability to block Google from using their material, as they remain heavily dependent on SEO traffic for visibility.
The second allegation concerns YouTube. When uploading videos, creators are required to grant Google permission to use their content to train the company’s AI models—again, without any form of monetary compensation. Meanwhile, competing companies are prohibited from using YouTube content for their own model training, which regulators suggest may create an unfair competitive advantage for Google.
The investigation is being carried out under Article 102 of the TFEU, which addresses abuse of dominant market position (case number AT.40983).
