EU Opens Antitrust Probe Into Google’s AI Training on News and YouTube Content

Overview

• Investigators will assess whether Google used YouTube videos to train generative models without compensating creators or offering a way to refuse such use.
• The probe also covers Google’s use of news-site material for AI-generated search summaries and the company’s AI Mode feature without payment or an opt-out.
• Regulators are examining whether YouTube policies block rival model developers from using platform content while Google benefits from it for its own systems.
• Google criticized the case as a move that could slow innovation and said it will continue working with the news and creative sectors.
• The action follows campaigning by Foxglove, the Independent Publishers Alliance, and the Movement for an Open Web, and it comes alongside a recent EU investigation into WhatsApp’s AI features.