EU Launches Investigation into Google's AI Practices Amid Publisher Concerns

Wed Dec 10 2025 09:36:05 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

The European Commission is probing Google over its AI-generated search summaries and the use of content from creators, raising questions on fair compensation and the impact on independent media.

The European Union has initiated an investigation into Google's practices concerning its AI-generated summaries appearing in search results. The focus is on whether the tech giant has failed to compensate content creators whose materials were used to enhance its AI capabilities, alongside concerns regarding the implications of such practices for independent journalism.

The EU has opened an investigation into Google over its artificial intelligence (AI) summaries which appear above search results.

The European Commission said it would examine whether the firm used data from websites to provide this service - and if it failed to offer appropriate compensation to publishers.

It is also investigating how YouTube videos may have been used to improve its broader AI systems, and whether content creators were able to opt-out.

A Google spokesperson said the probe 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, they said.

The EU's investigation will also cover Google's AI Mode, which gives people an answer in a conversational style with some links to other pages.

Google's introduction of its AI Overview summaries was met with concerns it could result in fewer visitors to websites. Without people clicking on web pages, sites generate less money from advertising.

The Daily Mail previously claimed the number of people who clicked its links from Google search results fell by around 50% since Google introduced its AI Overview feature.

The Commission is concerned both web publishers and YouTube video creators were not being compensated or given the opportunity to opt-out of their content being used to train the company's AI models.

Ed Newton-Rex from AI fairness campaigners Fairly Trained said it was career suicide for people to not publish their work on YouTube or online. He pointed out that Google essentially makes it a condition of online publishing that the firm can use your work to build AI that competes with you.

This investigation could not come at a more critical time for creators around the world, as the EU's enforcement of its digital rules faces backlash from US lawmakers. The Commission's executive vice-president Teresa Ribera emphasized that AI's growth should not overshadow the EU’s values of a free and diverse media landscape.

Rosa Curling, from the campaign group Foxglove, welcomed the investigation but warned that threats to journalism and democracy persist, calling for urgent measures to protect independent media.