European Union: European Commission opened investigation into Google over alleged anticompetitive conduct in its use of online content for AI purposes

On 8 December 2025, the European Commission initiated a formal investigation into Google to assess whether the company has breached European Union competition rules by using content from web publishers and YouTube for artificial intelligence (AI) purposes. The Commission is examining whether Google is distorting competition by imposing unfair terms on publishers and content creators or by granting itself privileged access to content, disadvantaging rival AI model developers. Specific concerns include Google's use of web publishers’ content for generative AI services such as “AI Overviews” and “AI Mode” on its search results pages, allegedly without appropriate compensation or the option for publishers to refuse, thereby leveraging publishers’ reliance on Google Search. Additionally, the investigation addresses Google's use of video and other content uploaded on YouTube to train its generative AI models without compensating creators or allowing them to opt out, while simultaneously preventing rival AI developers from using YouTube content for their models. These practices are being examined under Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and Article 54 of the European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement, which prohibit the abuse of a dominant market position.